The Final Battle
by Iain B
Summary: The final battle of the war involves more than Harry and Voldemort. Many different people will play important parts. Here is the prelude to and aftermath of the battle from many of their points of view (including Harry and Voldemort).
1. The Warning

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except the story._

_This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter story. This tells my version of the final battle. This is the first half (roughly) of the story. I would be quite surprised if the final battle turned out exactly this way, but I wouldn't be too surprised if some parts of it actually happen._

_It might be a bit confusing because it jumps around between characters, but this was necessary to tell the story I wanted to. As such, more of the events can be seen than Harry would know about. I hope it works well enough and is not too confusing. I have divided each change of viewpoint into "chapters" in an effort to make it easier to follow. These are not really chapters, however, as they are all part of the larger whole. Some of the "chapters" will be very short with others much longer._

_Before beginning, I should perhaps give a few warnings. There will be little romance in this; most of that will be in the sequel set in the future (if it ever gets written). There will be deaths, including those of some well-liked characters. Finally, if you only like to read of a good Draco, this story is probably not for you. Now on with the story._

Severus Snape hesitated for a moment before he entered Albus Dumbledore's office. 'This is the last point you can change sides, Severus,' he thought. 'Perhaps I should rejoin the Dark Lord. He could easily win. Potter is hardly his equal. But I chose long ago. I will not demean myself by changing my course now.' Having reconsidered what he was about to do, Snape climbed the stairs and entered Dumbledore's office.

"Come in, Severus," Dumbledore said before Snape realised he had been noticed, leaving him wondering once again how Dumbledore always knew who was visiting him.. "To what do I owe this honour?" Dumbledore's tone of voice was light, but there was an edge to it.

"Albus, it's time," Snape said, looking around the office and seeing most of the past Heads of Hogwarts apparently asleep, though from past experience he knew most of them to be merely pretending. "He is ready to make his final move."

"Voldemort is ready?" Dumbledore asked. "You are sure of this?"

"I'm certain," Snape said firmly. Snape was pleased to not that none of the portraits were now feigning sleep. Instead they were all listening raptly to him. "The Dark Lord knows somebody has betrayed him. He called all of those he suspects to him, then revealed his plans to us. He wants you to know, Albus."

"What does he want me to know?"

"He is coming here. He is finally confident enough to take you on head-to-head. The final battle will be fought soon."

"You mean …" Dumbledore trailed off for the first time in all the years Snape had known him.

"Yes, Albus. The Dark Lord is finally coming back to Hogwarts."


	2. Initial Preparations

Dumbledore spent the rest of the afternoon summoning those he needed. For the first time in decades, if not centuries, Hogwarts would host a council of war. Dumbledore called as much of the Order of the Phoenix to him as he could in the short time he had. He also called upon those who would be needed to head the defence of the school. As the sun set, Dumbledore was joined in his office by Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid and Bill Weasley. Soon six breathless pupils arrived, escorted by Professor Snape. "Now that we are all here, we can begin," Dumbledore said.

"Albus, why are we here?" McGonagall asked, voicing the thoughts of most of the people in the room.

"We are here, Minerva," Dumbledore said quietly, "because a dreadful responsibility has fallen upon us. We must begin preparations to defend the school. You see, Lord Voldemort is coming to Hogwarts and he is bringing his entire dark legion with him."

There was a collective gasp throughout the room. Flitwick toppled from his chair in shock, and many of the others came close to doing the same. McGonagall was the first to recover from her shock. "You're absolutely certain about this Albus?" she said.

"Unfortunately I am," he replied. "Severus, the time for secrecy is past. Explain if you will."

"Most of you know I was once a Death Eater," Snape said. "Most of you also know of my role in the Order of the Phoenix. To sum it up for those of you who don't know, I've spent the last three years acting as a spy within the ranks of the Death Eaters. The Dark Lord himself told me that he is coming to Hogwarts."

There was an uncomfortable silence following Snape's announcement. It was broken by a misty voice as one of the students spoke for the first time. "Is he bringing the speckled Necrosians with him?" Luna Lovegood asked.

Snape raised one of his eyebrows questioningly. "The what?" he responded, politely for him, though there was more than a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Speckled Necrosians," Luna repeated. "They are the personal creatures of Lord Voldemort. He created them from snakes and horses. They're like basilisks with legs, and I've always wanted to see one."

Everybody looked at Luna with bemusement. They all knew her, so knew that she could easily believe in such a creature. It was quite a while before anybody spoke then the gentle voice of Hermione Granger stated "Luna, there is no such thing as a speckled Necrosian."

"I know. I thought everybody could do with some cheering up though. The idea of a speckled Necrosian is quite ridiculous. The greater speckle-backed centaur is the nearest creature to one. It was in the Quibbler last month." Nobody was quite sure if Luna was still joking, so they quietly let the matter drop.

"We need to make preparations," Dumbledore said. "We only have a matter of days. Severus, Filius, Minerva, Pomona, will you prepare the students of your respective houses?"

"Of course, Albus," McGonagall replied for the four heads of house.

"Are you sure that's wise, sir?" Hermione asked. "While I'm sure most students are perfectly loyal, there are some that will want Voldemort to win."

"Miss Granger, why not say what you mean?" Dumbledore responded quietly. "You would trust most non-Slytherins implicitly. You, are of course, correct that there are several Slytherin pupils who would quite willingly join the Death Eaters. But it would be wrong to leave them unprepared. Severus, you can deal with any problems, can you not?"

"I'll do my best, Albus," Snape replied. "Anybody who expresses support for the Dark Lord I will keep a close eye on."

"That is all I have a right to expect." Dumbledore smiled, sad that such measures were needed. "Hagrid, will you prepare the denizens of the forest to aid us as much as they are willing to do?"

"Of course 'eadmaster," the massive man replied. "Don' 'spect much from most of 'em mind, but I'll tell 'em he's coming."

"Thank you, Hagrid. Kingsley, you will have the Aurors here?"

"I can have half a dozen here before the end of the day, another dozen within the week. The Ministry will not be willing to spare any more, nor should they," Shacklebolt said firmly. "Not that I doubt your information, Severus, but if Voldemort struck somewhere else while the vast majority of the Aurors were here it would be a disaster."

"Indeed. We are fortunate that that you will be able to bring so many," Dumbledore said. "Molly, Remus, you will alert the rest of the Order?"

"Of course," Mrs Weasley said. "We'll be ready."

"As many of us as you want will be here when Voldemort strikes," Lupin stated quietly.

"Thank you. Poppy, are you prepared?"

"I will not fight, Albus," Madam Pomfrey put in firmly. "You know that. But I will treat as many casualties as I can, from both sides. I will likely need help though. May I use all the first year students to help me?"

"Of course Poppy. Take whatever students you need. If you would, please begin making preparations. I fear we have not a moment to wait." Everybody turned to leave. "Stay for a little while, if you would Molly. Remus, you and our young friends too, I think."

A few moments later only Lupin, Mrs Weasley, Dumbledore and the six pupils were left in the room. "Molly, you can get in touch with Charlie can't you?" he quietly asked Mrs Weasley.

"Of course," she responded immediately. "You want him to bring them here?"

"If it is at all possible. We will need everybody we can get."

"I'll get on it immediately Albus."

"Remus, how many have you managed to assemble?"

"I've convinced about twenty," Lupin said softly. "A fair portion of the rest have chosen to join Voldemort, I'm afraid. Where do you want them?"

"Contact them. Bring them to one place and stay with them. When we need them, I will contact you."

"Yes Albus."

"You can go now, Molly, Remus. I need to have a brief word alone with the children." Lupin and Mrs. Weasley left. "You six are going to be need to be very involved in the defence of the school," Dumbledore continued after they had gone. "You are the only pupils that have fought Death Eaters. You have all done as much as many members of the Order to oppose Voldemort, and that leaves you as the only choices to lead the students."

"But aren't the teachers going to lead us?" Hermione asked.

"Alas, there are many pupils and few teachers," Dumbledore said. "The teachers will be too busy to do much to prepare the students for the fight that is going to happen. I must rely upon you to prepare them all as best you can."

"We'll do everything we can," Harry assured him. "The DA will certainly be ready."

"Yes. Speaking of the DA," Dumbledore said, "I fear we will not have enough people, even with the preparations we have begun here tonight. I trust you can get in contact with the old members?"

"Oh yes," Luna said brightly. "My father will be quite happy to send a message to them." The Quibbler had become over the past two years the unofficial method of communication with those DA members who had left Hogwarts. Even the Order had used it on occasion to pass messages between its members. "He will only need to know where they need to go and when. The Quibbler's always got an issue ready to print nowadays."

"Then I shall leave the matter in your capable hands," Dumbledore said with a smile, his eyes twinkling for the first time since Snape had brought him the news. "If you would, please leave me now. I need a few moments with Harry."

"We'll see you later, mate," Ron called to Harry as the other five left. "We'll get everything set up. Meet us in the Room of Requirement when you're done."

"How much do they know?" Dumbledore quietly asked after they had left.

"Everything. They've earned that right," Harry responded. "I told them after what happened last year. If they are going to risk their lives for me they deserve to know what they're going to get themselves into."

"I must agree." Dumbledore smiled at Harry, the first genuine smile he had had since Snape informed him of Voldemort's plan. "They have shown great loyalty to you, Harry. Few people will ever have such true friends. Do not try to leave them out. I know you worry about them, but they will not thank you for trying to spare them. From bitter experience I have learned that trying to protect people in that way is more likely to lead to great harm. You must be ready, Harry. Everybody will do what they can to help you, but in the end you must face and defeat Voldemort or all our hopes are lost."

Harry responded instantly "I will be ready," then he left Dumbledore's office to rejoin his friends and begin their preparations for the defence of Hogwarts.


	3. The Spy Unmasked

Severus Snape left the Slytherin common room with a sneer on his face. 'That was a nightmare,' he thought. 'Far too many of them are following the path of their parents. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle certainly want to follow in their fathers' footsteps, Nott and several others too.' Moments later there was a sharp burst of pain from his left forearm. 'The Dark Lord is summoning me. I must go.'

Snape left the school as quickly as he could so that he could get outside the reach of the anti-apparition wards. The look on his face ensured that everybody avoided him. Half an hour later, Snape was in the presence of his former master. Voldemort was in a large hall sitting on a throne that faced away from Snape, while on one side was Nagini and on the other Wormtail. 'That rat,' Severus thought. 'He is never far from his master's side. Likely he knows what even his fellow Death Eaters think of him.'

"My Lord," he called out to Voldemort. "Why have you summoned me?"

"You are still loyal to me, Severus?" Voldemort's cold voice responded. "You still serve me over all others?"

"Of course, my Lord. I would never desert you."

"Then would you care to prove your loyalty, Severus?" Voldemort asked, a cold smile on his face.

"As you wish, master. How do you wish me to prove myself?"

"We have managed to secure custody of several Muggles. Dispose of them for me."

"Of course, my Lord. Where are they?"

"Lucius, bring in the Muggles." At Voldemort's command, Lucius Malfoy entered the room with four Muggles being dragged behind him, three adults, one man and two women, and a teenager. To his shock, Snape realised that he knew who they were. One of them looked like an older Hermione, while the teenager and the other woman were recognizable from Hagrid's tales of when he went to get Harry from his Muggle relatives.

"You want me to kill them?" Snape asked.

"That would be advisable, Severus," Voldemort said. "Unless, that is, you want me to believe I can't trust you anymore."

Snape tried his hardest to keep calm, trying not to give anything away to Voldemort, all the while trying to come up with a way to salvage the situation. 'I can't kill them,' Snape thought. 'Granger would never forgive me if I killed her parents and killing Potter's aunt and cousin would possibly please him.'

"Shall we stop pretending, Severus?" Voldemort asked. "I know you are no longer my servant. You now serve that Mugglelover Dumbledore."

"You are mistaken, my Lord," Snape said. "I serve you and only you." Inside, however, Snape was near panic. He knew what Voldemort might decide to do if he believed Snape no longer served him.

"I have my sources, Severus," Voldemort hissed. "You have recently returned to Hogwarts and now Dumbledore knows my plans. You are the only one of my Death Eaters who could have told him. I have never fully trusted you since you did not rejoin me the instant I returned, even more so since you tried to prevent my tool Quirrell from getting the Philosopher's Stone, so you were never in a position to fully betray me until it no longer mattered. I want Dumbledore to know we are coming. I want him and his followers to know fear. But now, Severus, I must punish you. The Muggles too." As he said this, previously concealed Death Eaters emerged and surrounded them, wands at the ready. Voldemort smiled cruelly, then gave a signal. In response to his gesture, the Death Eaters as one cried out "_Crucio_", and the Cruciatus curse was directed against Snape and the Muggles. Within seconds they were jerking in extreme agony as the curse took effect. Voldemort signalled his Death Eaters again, and they released their victims. He nodded again and they reapplied the curse, and then released it after a minute. They continued this pattern for nearly half an hour before Voldemort was satisfied. Finally he ordered the Death Eaters to leave him alone with the prisoners. "Go back to Dumbledore and tell him we are coming. We will be there very soon. And as a gift, I am going to let my old teacher have you intact. These Muggles can go with you." The last thing that Snape heard was his former master whispering "_Crucio_", then he lost consciousness.


	4. Snape in Hospital

When Snape regained consciousness, he found himself in the infirmary at Hogwarts. 'How did I get here,' he wondered.

"I see you are finally awake Professor Snape," Madam Pomfrey said. "If you will take your potion, I will go and get the headmaster. He wanted to speak to you when you came to."

"How did I get here? What happened?" Snape asked.

"Just take your potion, Severus. Have some chocolate too. You'll get your questions answered in time." Pomfrey left to get Dumbledore, leaving Snape to look around the infirmary.

'It's been a long time since I was here as a patient,' he thought. He looked around and could see that the Muggles that had been tortured along with him were also there. "Muggles at Hogwarts," he said aloud with some disgust. "Whatever next?"

"I was hoping you could tell me, Severus," came the voice of Dumbledore. Snape quickly jerked round and saw him entering with Pomfrey. "What happened?"

"He summoned me, Albus. I had to go. When I arrived at his location, he suggested that to prove my loyalty I would have to deal with the Muggles. It was just a cruel trick, though. He knew I had betrayed him."

"Then why are you still alive?" Dumbledore asked seriously. "Voldemort has never been known for his mercy to those who betrayed him."

"He wanted me to come back here. He gave me a message for you," Snape said quietly, coughing occasionally as a result of his treatment at the hands of Voldemort. "They will be here very soon; I would think two days at most. He and the Death Eaters took great delight in torturing the five of us."

"You know who the Muggles are, Severus?"

"I can guess. One's obviously Granger's mother while another is probably her father. As for the other two, anybody who's talked to Hagrid knows they are the Muggles Potter spends his summers with. I'm not sure why they were kept alive though."

"Headmaster," Pomfrey warned, "Don't talk to Severus too long. He needs his rest. I haven't seen anybody tortured more since the first war."

"Of course, Poppy. I won't be much longer," Dumbledore responded. "Severus, did Voldemort say how he knew you were no longer his loyal servant?"

"He said he never trusted me since he returned. And he suggested he has one or more informants inside Hogwarts," Snape replied.

"I see. Very well Severus. Thank you for your information. Now obey Poppy's instructions and get some rest. I will need you healthy when the battle begins." With that, Dumbledore left and Madam Pomfrey began to fuss over Snape and her other patients. Soon enough, Snape fell asleep once more."


	5. Visiting Relatives

Harry Potter quickly made his way to the infirmary, accompanied by Hermione. Dumbledore had made sure that they were informed of what had happened to their relatives. The shock and worry both of them felt was evident upon their faces. 'I can't stand them,' Harry thought of his aunt and cousin, 'but I'd never have wished this upon them."

The two Gryffindors burst into the infirmary, much to the consternation of Madam Pomfrey. "Keep it down," she told them. "My patients need lots of rest if they're going to get better."

"How are my parents?" Hermione asked with tears in her eyes. "Are they all right?"

"I can't say yet, Miss Granger," Pomfrey said sadly. "I need to wait until they wake up. Their chances are quite good. Professor Snape is relatively well given what's happened to him, so I'm hoping the others will be too."

"Where am I?" came the croaky voice of Petunia Dursley, interrupting anything Harry or Hermione might have said in response.

"You're at Hogwarts, Aunt Petunia," Harry answered. "Do you know what happened?"

"Yes, I remember everything all too clearly," Petunia said bitterly. "I was at home with Dudley when Peter Pettigrew came to the door. He told me he had information on you and Vernon from Dumbledore, so I let him in."

"Hold on a minute, you know Wormtail?" Harry interrupted her. After seeing the blank look on Petunia's face he corrected himself "I mean Peter Pettigrew?"

"Of course I know him. You should know that your father always came with that group of his," she replied with a sneer. "If you met one you met them all. Anyway, I let him in and he stunned first Dudley then me. When I regained my senses, we were in a different place. There were Dementors nearby."

"How could you tell?" Harry asked. "Muggles can't see them."

"Use your head, boy. Do you think I don't remember what they do? Dudley was the same way he was when they attacked him two summers ago, and I felt absolutely awful. He wanted it that way." Petunia said the last part almost too quietly for anybody to hear. "And I'm not entirely normal anymore," she added even more quietly, with something like bitter awe.

"Who? Voldemort?"

"Yes, Voldemort. Who else would kidnap us that way? And who else controls the Dementors? Eventually, he had us and the other two brought before him. Then he brought Vernon out, and he killed him." Petunia began to cry. "My poor Vernon."

"Mister Potter," Pomfrey said, "please leave her alone for a while. She's suffered enough already. Now Mrs Dursley, please take this potion. It will help you get better."

To Harry's surprise, Petunia did as Madam Pomfrey instructed without protest. Within minutes, she had fallen into a deep sleep.

It was over another hour before any of the others woke up. "Dad!" Hermione cried out, her face lighting up with hope as she saw her father move. "You're awake."

"Who are you?" he asked her desperately. "Where am I?" Hermione's face fell. She began to sob uncontrollably. Harry tried his best to comfort her, but there were no words he could say.

"He doesn't know me," Hermione said through her sobs. "My father doesn't remember me."

"Now, Miss Granger," said Pomfrey reassuringly. "Don't give up hope. I've seen people recover from this situation before. Give him time."

Hermione was slightly consoled at this, but she was still obviously very upset. "How much chance of that is there?" Harry asked.

"It depends on several things. Whether the curse has damaged his brain, how strong willed he is, whether he responds well to treatment, and several other factors. The fact that he's a Muggle may act in our favour, or it may hinder us. Muggles are slightly harder to use magic on than wizards because they have no magic in their bodies. I'm afraid that only time will tell whether he will recover. I promise you though, Miss Granger," Pomfrey said kindly," I will do everything I can to heal him, and if I can't I will make sure that the St. Mungo's healers will take over. Mister Potter, would you take her back to Gryffindor tower? It would be best for her to have friends around her right now."

"Of course I will. Come on Hermione. We'll come back later." Harry led Hermione out of the hospital wing and back to the Gryffindor common room where their friends were waiting. "What happened?" Ron asked.

"Oh Ron," Hermione said. "My dad doesn't remember me. My mum hasn't woken up yet either. I don't know what I'll do if they don't get better."

"Don't worry about it, Hermione," Ron said, giving her a tender hug. "We're all here for you. We'll help you any way we can"

"Ron's right," Harry said. "Whatever you need us to do, we'll do."

"Thank you. Right now, just hold me Ron," Hermione said quietly. "I need to know you are here."

"Hermione," Ron said tenderly, "I'll always be here for you." He held her closer. "I will never leave you."


	6. The Eastern Front

Viktor Krum, Bulgarian international Quidditch player, acting Dark Arts instructor at Durmstrang School of Wizardry and Witchcraft and member of the Order of the Phoenix, was practicing for an upcoming Quidditch match when he heard the pop of someone Apparating near to his location. He landed and quickly moved to check who it was, his wand at the ready. He was relieved when he saw the red hair and freckles of somebody he had come to know well over the three years since he competed in the Triwizard Tournament. "Hello Charles," he said, putting his wand away.

"Viktor," Charlie Weasley responded. "It's time. Are they assembled?"

"They are," Krum said, nodding his head emphatically. "I haff established them all at Durmstrang. Ve must leave now?"

"Yes. We need to get to Britain within a couple of days. That ship you used three years ago, could we use it now?"

"Yes, ve should be able to. Ve just need to go to the school then ve shall depart," Krum said. "Those I trust are ready to go within an hour."

"Let's be about it then, Viktor. In a couple of hours we need to be leading the forces of Eastern European Wizardry to join the war. The final battle against Voldemort is soon going to begin, and we must not be late." Viktor and Charlie turned towards the massive school and began the walk that would eventually take them and their allies to Britain.


	7. Final Plans

The day after the attack on Snape, Petunia, Dudley and Hermione's parents dawned much the same as any other. To everybody in Hogwarts, however, it seemed far bleaker. The Gryffindors continued to treat Hermione very gently, all of them doing what they could to console her. Neville helped more than anybody else. He told her more details about what had happened to his parents than he had ever told anybody before. The most crucial thing he told her was "Don't worry too much about your father, Hermione. He wasn't under the curse long enough for him to end up the way my parents did. Even if he never regains his memory, he should be able to live a fairly normal life and over time he will grow to love you again. There's no way anybody who raised a person like you won't love you whether he remembers you or not."

At about midday, Dumbledore summoned those that had been in the earlier meeting that were at Hogwarts to the Room of Requirement. When they arrived, the room was very different to how it had ever been before. In the very centre of the room was a large model of the school and the surrounding area showing where every single person was. Next to this table were two equally large models, one showing the interior of the school and the other the outside. "We are here," Dumbledore said gravely, "to begin planning the defence of Hogwarts. The events of the past day have shown that Voldemort is nearly ready to act. I have reason to believe that he will either come tomorrow or the day after. We need to be ready for him when he arrives."

"Yes, constant vigilance," the gruff voice of Mad-Eye Moody put in. Moody had arrived at the school with the rest of the Order and had taken the place of Lupin in the meeting, as Lupin had not yet returned to the school. Moody looked very old and tired. The events of the previous year, which had cost him his left arm and left him with several new scars, had clearly taken their toll upon him. "Nice to know that I've finally gotten through to you Albus."

"Yes, Alastor," Dumbledore agreed. "From now on Hogwarts must be in a state of constant vigilance. We must be prepared. That is why we are meeting here. The room is set up to aid us in planning our course of action. We will need to establish a guard of Order members and Aurors who can tell us when and where the Death Eaters strike. That will allow us to position our forces to fight them most effectively."

"What about the students, Albus?" McGonagall asked.

"They will be inside the castle until and unless we need them," Dumbledore said firmly. "I do not want to risk them if we do not need to. I am afraid we will need them, however. There will be too many opponents for us to defeat outside. All we can do is slow them down so we can get everyone in place to fight them. Look," he gestured to one of the walls where there was a mirror that displayed what he described. "We can expect to the face all the Dementors that the Ministry employed. I believe that to a large extent I can limit their effectiveness. Not one Dementor will enter this school while I still live. We can also expect many giants to march with Voldemort again. I fear that despite the valiant efforts of Hagrid and Madam Maxime, he has persuaded them that they will be rewarded for their actions. In addition, there will be many deadly snakes amidst the ranks of our foes. Finally, there are the wizards that will oppose us, most but not all Death Eaters. And lastly there is the most fearsome of our foes, Lord Voldemort himself."

"How will the rest of us be arranged?" Kingsley questioned Dumbledore.

"I believe we can expect some of our enemies to attempt to infiltrate the school via the secret passages that we all know about. I intend to allow them inside …"

"What?" Mrs Weasley asked indignantly. "Professor Dumbledore, how can we allow them inside? It will expose the children to great risk, and us too."

"Indeed it will Molly," Dumbledore replied. "However, we do not have enough people to defend all the passages, and I am loath to block them off completely. If we fail and Voldemort is victorious, the passages represent the best hope of escape for some of us, and therefore the chance to continue the struggle. We will allow them in and, once they are inside, we shall engage them with part of our forces while others cut off their retreat. This will require several members of the Order and Aurors. Those not being used to entrap anybody that uses the secret passages will either be placed to protect the children or to fight outside. In the end, however, we will almost certainly be forced to fight within the walls of the school itself. I shall be here, trying to direct the battle until the point at which I can no longer influence events from here, when I shall join with the rest of you."

"What of the DA, Professor?" Harry asked quietly.

"They are ready, Severus, Kingsley?" Snape and Shacklebolt along with Lupin, Tonks and Mundungus Fletcher had, at Dumbledore's request, spent time teaching and evaluating the DA. While it was still almost entirely a student led and taught group, the DA, especially the newest members, had greatly benefited from their instruction.

"Yes," Shacklebolt replied. "They are at least as ready as any group of young Aurors that I have ever seen."

"Indeed," Snape said with more than a hint of tiredness in his voice. "They are capable. They know more than Potter did in any of his early encounters with the Dark Lord. You should use them, Albus."

"Then I shall do so, Dumbledore said decisively. "The DA will work alongside the Order and the Aurors in preparing our defences. I am afraid that this battle will cost us dearly. Even if we win there are going to be casualties. You will be busy Poppy."

"I know, Albus. I've seen the effects of war too often," Pomfrey replied sadly. "Now if you don't mind," she continued firmly, "I will take Severus back to the infirmary. He still needs plenty of rest."

"Of course, Poppy. Let him rest. I'll be along to see him later. The rest of you should go too. Tell everyone what we are planning."

"Don't tell the Slytherins," Snape warned. "I am certain that it was one of the Slytherins who revealed my treachery to the Dark Lord. If they know what we plan, the Dark Lord will know soon after."

"Sadly you are almost certainly correct, Severus," Dumbledore said, inclining his head in agreement. "The students do not need to know all our plans. Tell all the students only what you believe they need to know." Everybody left the room and began to prepare for the assault they knew would come.

A few hours later, Harry and his friends found themselves summoned before Dumbledore. "Harry, I have a great favour to ask of you and your friends."

"What do you need?" Harry asked.

"I need you to leave the school and join the older DA members and Remus Lupin's reinforcements. They are to arrive after the attack begins and cut off our enemies' retreat. Also, Voldemort is likely to be towards the rear of his followers. If you can reach him and defeat him, the battle will be won. I want you to lead the flank attack."

"You'll do it, won't you Harry?" Hermione said. "I want to be there too. I want to see Voldemort dead for what he did to my parents."

"I am afraid, Hermione," Dumbledore said quietly, "that neither you nor Ron can be a part of this."

"What?" Ron asked indignantly. "Of course we're going with Harry. You don't think we're going to abandon him now do you?"

"No, I do not" Dumbledore replied. "However, for reasons both of our morale and to make sure that the enemy continues to come they must believe Harry is inside the school. Like it or not, Harry is seen as something of a talisman, a good luck charm if you will, by most of those on our side. If he is not here they will lose heart. And Voldemort, though he does not know the whole prophecy, knows that he must defeat Harry. If he believes Harry is not here, he may cancel the attack. Everybody knows how close the two of you are to Harry. They know you would not desert him. If you are not here, nobody will believe Harry is either."

"But they will know he's not here anyway," Hermione objected. "They'll see him missing."

"That is what I must ask of Neville," Dumbledore continued. "We need a Harry Potter in the school. I believe that Neville can act the part."

"Me?" Neville said in surprise. "But I can't be Harry. I don't look like him for a start, and he's much better at magic than I am."

"The first problem is easily solved," Dumbledore said softly. "Professor Snape has a large amount of Polyjuice Potion in his office in case we ever needed it. We need it now. As for the second, you underestimate yourself. You are capable of much more than you believe. I am sure that Harry has told you that you could have been the one Voldemort chose as his foe. The talent you need is inside of you."

"You can do it Neville," Ginny said confidently. "Ron's the only person who might be able to play the part better, and you'll make a better Harry than you would a Ron."

"I'm still not happy about the idea," Ron put in. "I don't want to leave Harry on his own. I know he'll have Lupin, Fred, George and the rest with him, but we should be with him too."

"He won't be alone, Ronald," Luna said quietly. "I will go with him."

"Are you sure, Luna?" Harry asked. "It's going to be very dangerous. It would probably be safer here."

"Nowhere is safe, Harry," Luna replied. "Wherever I went I would eventually have to face danger. And Ronald is correct. One of us should go with you."

"That would probably be best, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Miss Lovegood's presence could be quite beneficial to you. Whatever you may think, neither she nor any of your friends would thank you for trying to protect them."

"Let her go with you," Hermione said. "If nothing else it will make the rest of us feel better about you leaving."

"Yeah mate," Ron said. "If I can't be with you I'd rather one of us was."

"When should I leave?" Harry asked.

"Get yourself prepared. You should join Remus and the others this evening," Dumbledore stated.

"If Neville is willing to do this, so am I."

"I'm willing to try," Neville said. "I'm not sure I can convince anybody, but I'll do what I can."

"Then I'll go to the infirmary, then get prepared. I'll see the rest of you later," Harry said as he left Dumbledore's office.

"Are you sure this is a good idea professor?" Hermione asked Dumbledore.

"Regrettably," he responded, "I am as sure as I can be. I am no seer, so I cannot tell what the future holds, Hermione. But I only do what I think is for the best."

"I hope you're right professor." The other five left to wait for Harry in the Gryffindor common room.

"So do I, Hermione, so do I," Dumbledore said quietly as he watched them leave.


	8. Aunt Petunia Reveals All

Harry quickly made his way back to the infirmary. He needed to see Professor Snape to find out where the Polyjuice Potion was. He burst through the doors of the infirmary a bit too forcefully for Madam Pomfrey's liking. "Mr Potter, what do you think you are doing?" she asked. "The patients in here need rest."

"I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey," Harry said contritely, "I need to talk to Professor Snape. Professor Dumbledore knows about my visit"

"Very well. Try not to excite him though. He needs rest if he is going to fully recover."

Harry moved to Snape's bedside. Snape immediately spoke to him. "What do you want, Potter?" he demanded.

"I need to know where the Polyjuice Potion in your office is located, Professor," Harry said politely.

"Do you now. Why don't you brew some for yourself if you need it?" Snape responded with a sneer.

"I don't have the time, Professor," Harry replied as calmly as he could, though there was more than a hint of anger in his voice. "You know it takes a month to brew and I wouldn't care to take the chance I might make a mistake if it could be made in time. Professor Dumbledore knows that I need to get some of the Potion. He would tell you to give it to me."

"Going over my head again, eh Potter?" Snape said acidly. "It's always that way isn't it. I've never been able to treat you as you deserve. Go ahead then. The Potion is on the third shelf down on the left side of my office. Have you got that?"

"Third shelf, left side. Yes I've got it."

"So you have learnt something while you've been here. You know Potter," Snape said sarcastically. "I'm glad this is going to be the end. If we win, you can go swanning off to do whatever it is you want to do with your life and if we lose we'll probably both be dead. Either way, I won't have to deal with you ever again."

"There was a time when I wanted to know why you hated me, Professor," Harry said tiredly. "I know in part it's because I look like my father and remind you of your rivalry with him, but I don't care any longer. Hate me all you like. I don't like you either, so we're even. But we both know we'll never be fully free of each other. I'm willing to work with you if you will work with me."

"That's the most mature thing I've ever heard you say. Maybe you're right, but if I see you again it will be too soon for my liking. Now let me get my rest Potter. I will need it if I'm going to be able to fight when the Dark Lord gets here."

"All right Professor. I'll let you be, but if we survive I hope you'll eventually be willing to let bygones be bygones, and that I will too."

Harry began to move towards the exit, but stopped in surprise when his aunt spoke to him. "Harry, can I talk to you before you leave?"

"All right, Aunt Petunia. What do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"It's ironic that I'm here now," Petunia said sadly. "There was a time when I would have given anything to be here, but now I would give anything to be back home."

"Here? Do you mean Hogwarts?" Harry said in surprise.

"Yes. I mean Hogwarts."

"But you hate magic," Harry interrupted her.

"I thought you were brighter than that," Petunia responded, an odd smile on her face. "I do hate magic, I think, but I didn't always. When I was young I adored magic. I read everything I could get my hands on that contained wizards and witches and so on. Then, in the summer holiday after she finished primary school, she got The Letter."

"The letter from Hogwarts?"

"Yes. I always thought of it as 'The Letter'. It turned our world upside down. We all thought it was somebody's idea of a joke to begin with, but eventually we were convinced it was real. Oddly enough," Petunia said, a look of fond reminiscence on her face, "Lily didn't want to go at first. I persuaded her that if she didn't go she'd regret it for the rest of her life."

"How did you convince her?" Harry asked coldly.

"Not the way you're probably thinking," Petunia responded vehemently. "I didn't make her life a misery until she left. I used words to persuade her learning magic would do her good."

"But I thought you hated her."

"How many fourteen year olds have you met that truly hate their younger sister?" Petunia asked wryly. "I'll admit I was jealous of her sometimes, but I didn't hate her, not then. I suppose I loved her. I'm sorry to say that changed later. Lily came back as happy as I'd told her she would be, and I was pleased for her. But as the years went on and she told us more and more about what she did, I became increasingly jealous of her. I kept asking myself 'Why does she get to learn magic? Why can't I?' Eventually I came to the conclusion that the reason was that she was a freak and that I was normal, and that I never wanted to go anyway. Deep inside me I knew I was fooling myself, but I didn't care. That was when I began to treat her as somebody I didn't want to know, and eventually I said things I never should have said. In the end, I left home because I couldn't bear to be near her. I married Vernon then, to get away, and I told him about magic so Lily wouldn't come to the wedding. I'm afraid I told him lots of lies and half-truths about it. That's why he hated magic so much. I never spoke to Lily again after that, though we did send letters to each other occasionally."

"Did you love Uncle Vernon?" Harry questioned her.

"I don't know. I don't know if I've really loved anyone except Dudley since I was sixteen or so," Petunia replied sadly. "Still, I know I don't love Dudley the way Lily loved you. I dearly love him, but I don't think I'd ever have sacrificed myself for him the same way. Part of the reason I spoiled him so much was to make up for it. I will miss Vernon terribly, though. I became so used to him that I don't know how I'll live without him."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"It's your right to know the truth at last. You need to know why I kept you."

"Why did you keep me? Why didn't you let Uncle Vernon get rid of me?" Harry demanded.

"Because of Dumbledore's letter," Petunia said simply. "Vernon never saw it, so he never learnt the whole truth, only what I told him. In his letter, Dumbledore told me everything that had happened, that in the end you would be needed to save he world from Voldemort, and that so long as you were in my care you would be safe. It was the last part that made the difference, really. For all that I'd come to detest the magical world I couldn't let you die. And Dumbledore also said that I would be compensated for keeping you."

"How?" Harry was genuinely curious. He'd never seen his Aunt get anything for taking him in.

"Apparently I always had a little magic in me. Not much at all," Petunia said, seeing the confused look on Harry's face. He obviously wondered why, if she had magic, did she never go to Hogwarts. "Only slightly more than a Squib like that caretaker Lily hated so much, Mr. Filch, certainly not enough to do anything useful or to be worth teaching how to use. That magic was apparently needed for Dumbledore's protective charm to work and as a result of the charm I got a very limited amount of extra magic, what I'd always really wanted."

"You've got magic?" Harry said in shock.

"Oh, not much," Petunia assured him. "Not even as much really as a young witch. I sometimes used it around the house, but without a wand I could never do anything powerful enough for the Ministry of Magic to detect it."

"Then why did you let me go through everything I did?" Harry asked indignantly, raising his voice to a volume that caused Madam Pomfrey to ask him to keep it quiet.

"I shouldn't have," Petunia said, shame in her voice. "I know that. But even when I got what I wanted I could never let my bitterness go, and I'd made Vernon hate magic more than I ever could have. It took Vernon's death to make me admit this to you."

"I don't think I can forgive you for what you've put me through," Harry responded bitterly.

"I don't expect you too. I can't really forgive myself for my actions either," Petunia said sadly.

"I'll leave you now, then. Don't expect to see me any time soon," Harry said before leaving the infirmary.

"I don't. Good luck, Harry," Petunia said, speaking up to make sure Harry could hear her. "And I do want you to win. Believe me about that even if you don't believe anything else I've said. I want Voldemort dead for Lily and Vernon, and for everybody else. Once he is, perhaps I can begin to forgive myself." Although Harry heard, he showed no sign as he walked out the door.


	9. The Parting of the Sextet

Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room with Snape's Polyjuice Potion. There was more than enough for Neville to pretend to be him for as long as would be realistically needed unless Dumbledore was wrong about when Voldemort would begin the attack. The instant Harry arrived, he noticed that one of his friends was missing. "Where's Luna?" he asked.

"She went to the Ravenclaw common room to prepare for your mission," Ginny said. "She also said that she didn't want to come in. She felt it would be wrong."

"That's ridiculous," Harry said. "Nobody would have minded if she came in."

"Yes, that's Luna," Ginny responded with a fond grin. "She's the only person I know who would outright refuse the invitation to look inside another house's common room."

"Did you get the Potion?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. There's enough to last for about three or four days if we're careful. If the attack hasn't begun by then, Dumbledore was obviously wrong."

"Then we're going to need some of your hair, Harry."

"I know, Take as much as you need," Harry said as he allowed Hermione to remove a fairly large amount of his hair.

"You ready Neville?" Ron asked. "We need to get this over with pretty quickly so that nobody hears us and comes to see what we're doing."

"Yes, I'm ready," Neville said. "We just need Hermione to finish the Potion. Do you mind me borrowing some of your clothes Harry?

"Of course not Neville," Harry answered. "Take as much as you need to be me. If you want, I'll let you keep them after we're done."

"I'm not really comfortable lying to everybody, though," Neville said. "None of us much like being lied to do we?"

"No," Harry replied, "but it's for a good cause. I think Dumbledore's right that everyone might lose heart if I'm not here. I don't like it that we have to deceive everybody, but I do think it's necessary."

"Yes, I'm afraid I have to agree," Hermione put in. "None of us really like it, but all of us think we need to do this. We need you to get to Voldemort, Harry, and if we don't do this you might not. The Potion should be ready for you now, Neville."

"Lets get this over with then," Neville said. Neville took a big gulp of the Potion and within seconds the change began. Soon afterwards, a second Harry Potter appeared.

"This is really weird, you know," Ron said. "I never thought I'd see two Harrys."

"Neither did I," Harry said. "It's very weird to see my face outside of a mirror."

"How do you think I feel?" Neville asked with Harry's voice. "Everything about me just changed. And it really hurt getting that scar of yours."

"I'm just going to go up to the dormitory and get a few things then I'll go and find Luna."

"We'll go with you, mate," Ron said. "We want to say goodbye to the two of you."

Half an hour later, using the Marauders Map the five Gryffindors found themselves waiting for Luna outside the Ravenclaw common room. "You're keeping an eye on the map, right Ginny?" Ron asked. "We don't want anybody other than Luna coming to see us. It would be a bit awkward trying to explain the fact there are two Harry Potters."

"Of course I am Ron. I've done this a few times you know," Ginny replied.

"What, waited outside the Ravenclaw common room with the map?" Ron asked, amazed at the idea.

"Of course. I borrowed the map a few times so that I'd know when people were coming when I shouldn't have been here waiting for Luna. Did you think Luna and I only met in lessons or the Great Hall? How could the two of us have been Mischief Makers in Chief if we did that?"

"What?" Ron asked in shock as everybody turned to look at Ginny. "The two of you are responsible for the pranks that have been pulled since Fred and George left?"

"Not all of them, of course. Just the most creative ones" Ginny said with a big smile on her face. "Luna really comes up with some clever ideas, and I'm no slouch either. What did you think the two of us were doing when we heard you talking before Umbridge caught you? We were planning something really good then. We've done better since, though. Remember when Snape's robes were turned bright blue? That was one of our tamer ones, though it did drive him mad. Professor Dumbledore seemed to find it amusing though. The 'hippogriff' that kept the Slytherins in their common Room for half a day was us too. I really enjoyed that one. It took us weeks to make a realistic life-sized hippogriff that Luna could transfigure to move and screech threateningly whenever anyone came near. I think Malfoy half wet himself when he saw it waiting for him."

"That was you?" Harry asked in surprise. "Nobody was ever caught for it, but I'd never have guessed it was you two."

"Nobody was really meant to," Ginny replied grinning hugely, a look eerily similar to the one her twin brothers sometimes had, "though I'd have thought somebody would put it together with Luna's Quidditch hats. If she can make them, why can't she make and enchant a hippogriff? I think the two of us are better than Fred and George ever were. We never get caught."

"There's no need to brag, Ginny," Luna's misty voice said from behind them. She had obviously left her common Room without anybody hearing her. "We were far more careful than they were, after all. They wanted to be known as troublemakers, we didn't really. Still, it was fun to pull pranks on people we knew took my things or who otherwise deserved it. You're ready to go then, Harry?" Luna asked, to Harry's surprise looking straight at him.

"Er, yes I am. How could you tell it was me though?" he asked.

"Neville looks like you, but he hasn't quite mastered being you yet. His mannerisms aren't quite right. Most people probably won't notice though, and if they do they'll put the difference down to what's going to happen. Have you decided how you will explain Neville's disappearance?" Luna said, turning to look at the other four.

"Yes," Hermione replied. "Neville was asked by Professor Sprout to go and collect some plants that would be of help in defending Hogwarts, plants like Devil's Snare. What about you, though? How will you explain your not being here?"

"I'm not going to. Most people won't notice I'm gone or care if they do," Luna said cheerfully, but with a hint of sadness. "If anyone asks you, I feel quite confident that you can come up with a good explanation. You are all quite creative, after all."

"We'd better get going or we won't get there before early tomorrow," Harry said. "Goodbye Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville. I'll see you later, after this is all done." As he spoke, Harry knew that it might be the last time they ever saw each other, but he was unwilling to admit it. Neither were any of his friends, but they all knew how lucky they had been to survive this long.

"Yes, goodbye everybody," Luna said. "I'm sure everything will work out."

"Bye Harry, bye Luna," Ron said. "We'll try to make sure there's still a place here for you to come back to, mate."

"Take care Harry," Hermione said. "Come back as soon as you can. You too Luna."

"Yeah, good luck to the both of you. Give our regards to Fred and George. We'll be waiting for you," Ginny put in.

"I'll try my hardest to act as you, Harry," Neville added. "Good luck when it comes to meeting Voldemort, and if you get to Bellatrix Lestrange first, leave some of her for me."

"Of course I will Neville. Come along then Luna, we'd better go." The six friends separated, four of them returning to the Gryffindor common room where they would prepare to meet the coming onslaught while the other two left the school, as quietly and quickly as they could before they got on their broomsticks and flew to join Remus Lupin and the older DA members.


	10. Arrival at the Burrow

Harry and Luna landed in the village of Ottery St Catchpole after a long flight. They were soon greeted by a pair of friendly faces. "Hi Harry, Luna," Fred Weasley said. "We were told you'd get here tonight."

"How is everybody?" George Weasley asked.

"They were fine when we left," Harry said. "Everybody was getting worried though."

"Yeah, we can understand that. We've been hard at work here getting everything ready," George responded.

"We've had a few problems finding space for everybody," Fred put in. "And it's been quite hard keeping the Muggles from noticing too."

"Who's here?" Harry asked.

"More people than we expected, really. Everybody who was in the DA and has left Hogwarts is here," Fred replied.

"Everybody?"

"Yes, everybody that's still alive. A few who were never in the DA too. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised. I never really expected more than Angelina, Lee, Alicia and Katie to turn up."

"There's about 20 werewolves too," George said.

"Werewolves?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes, Professor Lupin brought them. We should really take you to him"

The twins led Luna and Harry along a route that Harry recognised as leading to the Burrow. Within minutes they were at their destination where they were met by Lupin and a tall man with light brown hair that Harry didn't recognise, although he looked familiar. Luna clearly did know him, however, since her eyes lit up as soon as she saw him and she delightedly cried out "Daddy!" before embracing him.

"Hello Luna," said Mr. Lovegood, a huge smile on his face as he returned her hug.

"Hello Harry," Lupin said. "It's good to see you."

"Hello Remus," Harry replied. "I'm happy to be here, though I wish I didn't have to be."

"Nobody would want to be here, Harry. I'm afraid we need to be though. Unless we defeat Voldemort, none of our lives would be worth living."

"I know. Can you tell me what's been happening?"

"We've gathered everybody in Ottery St Catchpole because it's a place we can be relatively sure is secure, almost as much as the Order's Headquarters would be. Also, we can move from here to Hogsmeade very quickly, since the Ministry is willing to aid us. Voldemort hasn't made a move yet, so all of us are scattered in the Burrow and the Lovegood house. Sisyphus here," Lupin said indicating Mr. Lovegood, "has been kind enough to take in all the werewolves. He finds us fascinating and he's offered many of them jobs after this is all over."

"Yes," Mr Lovegood agreed. "Werewolves are far less likely to scare off crumple-horned snorkacks or wild heliopaths than most wizards are."

"Anyway," Lupin continued, completely ignoring the reference to creatures that might not exist, "the DA is staying in the garden of the Burrow, and as soon as Voldemort makes his move we will head to Hogwarts. We hope to catch him by surprise."

"Are you coming with us, daddy?" Luna asked her father.

"Yes dear," he replied. "It would make an excellent part of next month's Quibbler, and your mother would never forgive me if I let you go off fighting Death Eaters by yourself again."

"It's getting late now," Lupin said, "so it would be a good idea to get some rest. If Voldemort attacks tonight we will of course wake you."

"All right," Harry agreed. "Where will we sleep?"

"You can have Ron's room," Fred replied. "He won't mind, and there's space here for Luna if she would prefer, or she can go home."

"I think I'll go home," Luna said. "I'd like to meet the other werewolves and I haven't talked to daddy in ages."

"See you tomorrow then," Harry said before heading up the stairs. Though he hadn't realised it earlier, the day's events had tired him so much that almost as soon as his head hit the pillow he fell asleep.


	11. The Attack Begins

During the early hours of the morning after Harry and Luna arrived in Ottery St Catchpole, a sense of fear suddenly descended upon the village of Hogsmeade. Every witch and wizard in the village who was not asleep felt suddenly as if they would never be happy again, while those who were sleeping suddenly awoke from vivid nightmares feeling despair. Combined with this feeling was a small earthquake. The villagers were disquieted by these events, though they swiftly passed.

Within hours of the events in Hogsmeade, the Aurors guarding the approach to Hogwarts began to feel the despair the villagers had felt. The outer ring of guards felt it worst. Soon after they felt despair, the dark shapes of Dementors suddenly confronted a pair of Aurors. The Aurors instantly cast the Patronus Charm at the Dementors, and the Dementors were forced to fall back. Closely following the Dementors, however, were the massive shapes of giants. The Aurors tried to stun the giants, but found their spells ineffective and they were soon overwhelmed and beaten to a pulp, their screams of pain echoing into the night much to the delight of the Gurg. A short distance away, a pair of guards from the Order, less wary than the two Aurors had been, were surprised and overwhelmed by Dementors who swiftly administered their fatal kiss, then moved on leaving the two lying motionless and soulless in their wake.

"The attack goes well, my Lord," Bellatrix Lestrange told Voldemort, who was sitting comfortably far from the scene of the battle. "The giants and Dementors are easily defeating our enemies. If they can continue at this rate, soon Potter, Dumbledore and the rest will be dead."

"Excellent, Bella, Voldemort replied, a cruel smile upon his face. "Continue the attack."

"Of course, master. We will destroy all your foes then we can restructure the world in your glorious image." Bellatrix turned before Apparating to join the Dementors and giants, a dozen Death Eaters following her.

"As for you Wormtail," Voldemort said coldly to the smaller wizard who stood at his side, "you will go into Hogwarts alone. If you find my Death Eaters can enter undetected, return to me and I will act upon your information, hopefully with more success than in the past."

Wormtail's face, already pale, became much paler as he considered his task. He knew that by being the first to enter Hogwarts, even if it was by one of the secret passages he knew well from his schooldays, he would expose himself to greater risk than any other Death Eater at this stage. In spite of his fear at this idea, however, "Wormtail simply replied "Yes master" before he too Apparated.

Voldemort, now on his own, smiled evilly. "Soon," he said. "Very soon Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore will be no more than memories. Then the filthy Mudbloods and Muggles will learn the true meaning of fear before I kill them." Voldemort stroked Nagini as he settled down to await further news of his successful attack.


	12. First Combat

Nymphadora Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody were standing watch at the gates of Hogwarts when the attack began. The Dementors, giants and Death Eaters had successfully brushed aside the few Aurors between Hogsmeade and the gates quickly enough that there was no warning when their advance elements attacked. The Dementors led the attack, but the two Aurors and Order members responded with their Patronuses. The Dementors were forced back a short distance before they were joined by Crabbe at the head of half a dozen Death Eaters. The Death Eaters viciously attacked their enemies, throwing every variety of curse at them, but Tonks and Moody fought as a well-drilled team, helping to defend one another while they sent curses of their own back at the Death Eaters. Two unwary Death Eaters were swiftly stunned, but the other four put up a good fight. "We're in trouble here, Mad-Eye," Tonks said as she ducked a jet of light. "They must have dealt with everybody between here and Hogsmeade." Tonks fired off a stunner before ducking back into cover.

"Yes, you're right Tonks," Moody responded while he cast an "_Expeliarmus_", disarming Crabbe. "Bad enough to be up against these buggers again, but those damn Dementors too. We should have been warned. Constant Vigilance! What are they teaching you Aurors these days? I'd never have let them sneak past me or through me."

"I don't think this is the time to reminisce Mad-eye." Tonks paused in her reply long enough to send her Patronus, a large butterfly, at a small group of Dementors attempting to slip around the pair's left flank. "What are we going to do? Dumbledore needs to know that Voldemort's begun his attack."

"You're right." Moody sent a Death Eater flying with the Reductor Curse, but grunted in pain as he took a glancing hit on the stump of his left arm, causing it to bleed profusely. "We can probably deal with these clowns. They're hardly the cream of the Death Eaters. Others are going to follow them though." As he spoke Tonks managed to stun another Death Eater leaving only two of their foes and the disarmed Crabbe conscious. "You go to the castle. You'll move quicker than me. Send everyone you can down here, but make sure Albus knows what's happening."

"Are you sure, Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Get going. I'll cover you. Go now!" Moody sent a well-aimed stunner at a Death Eater who had to jump out of the way. Tonks moved out of cover, swiftly heading in the direction of the castle. Moody stayed in his place, firing off curse after curse in the Direction of the Death Eaters who were unable to outdo him and were also unable to hit the retreating Tonks. Moody was hit several more times, but he kept on fighting until, nearly ten minutes after Tonks had left, he was joined by Mundungus Fletcher and Dawlish.

"Moody," Dawlish said respectfully the instant they arrived. Dawlish sent two stunners in quick succession in the direction of the Death Eaters, one of whom was knocked unconscious.

"'Ow are you Mad-Eye?" Mundungus asked Moody before sending a curse in the direction of Crabbe who had retrieved his wand and was back in the fight.

"Well enough Fletcher. Dawlish," he acknowledged the Auror, "good to see you."

The three of them continued to trade curses and counter-curses with the Death Eaters and Dementors who were gradually reinforced by a few giants and several more Death Eaters while other Aurors and Order members gradually trickled into the battle. Several Death Eaters were down, but so were a few of their opponents, some with the look of those hit by the fatal _Avada Kedavra_ curse. Suddenly the hugely amplified voice of Bellatrix Lestrange called out "Enough! Our master calls us! We'll be back to finish them off later!" The Death Eaters immediately responded by Apparating, and the Dementors and giants pulled back as well. As soon as they were gone, Bellatrix could be heard laughing in a way very unlike her normal laugh. "That was fun. It probably won't work again though." As she spoke, her voice gradually changed from Bellatrix's to that of Tonks.

"What are you doing back here Tonks?" Moody demanded. "I told you to tell Dumbledore that the Death Eaters were here."

"Don't worry Mad-eye," Tonks replied, "I bumped into Hagrid. He can move faster than me and he thought I would be more use back here than he would so he went to inform Dumbledore while I changed into my dear aunt so that I could persuade them to leave us alone."

"Clever girl, Tonksy," Mundungus said. "Y'know I could really use you. When we're done 'ere, 'ows about you listen to a business proposal I've got going? Could make us both very rich."

"She won't be doing anything of the sort Fletcher," Dawlish said seriously. "No Auror would help you with your schemes. If I had my way, you'd be locked up for a good while."

"Oh, I don't know. It could be quite fun," Tonks said mischievously. "But Dung, don't call me Tonksy if you know what's good for you."

"Sure thing Nymphy."

Tonks moved towards Mundungus threateningly, but before she could do anything to him Moody spoke up. "We should be getting back to the school. Dumbledore will be telling us what he wants us to do. And Tonks, while I wouldn't mind you turning Fletcher into a cockroach any other time, we could really do with him now."

"All right, Mad-Eye," Tonks responded. "I'll leave Dung alone. He's all right most of the time, more fun than you or Dawlish at any rate. But I'll get you for calling me Nymphy, Dung, just you wait."

"Enough," Dawlish put in. "Moody's right. We do need to get back to the school. If we don't get a move on, You-Know-Who will get there before us."

The Aurors and Order members headed back to Hogwarts, leaving several of their number behind to delay the Death Eaters if they made another attack. When they arrived at the school, Dumbledore was waiting for them. "It has begun," the headmaster of Hogwarts stated simply, looking exceptionally old.

"Yes Albus," Moody said, "it has begun. The Death Eaters aren't going to be delayed by Tonks's trick for long. What do you want us to do?"

"Hold them outside as long as you can. Most of the teachers and much of the DA will join you shortly. The other students will be gathered in the Great Hall, where they will be best protected. Hagrid, will you go into the forest one last time? We need as many creatures that are willing to help us as possible."

"I'll do that, Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid said eagerly. "Every one I can get to fight will, and if they won't I'll know why."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I am afraid that we are all going to be in great need of assistance before the end of this battle. The end of the war is at last upon us. Good luck to each and every one of you." As he said this, Dumbledore turned and left to begin the final preparations for defending the school and its pupils.


	13. The Dark Lord's Anger

"You fools!" Voldemort shouted in a rage at the Death Eaters that had obeyed Tonks's order to retreat. "Couldn't you tell that was not Bella? She would never have given that order."

"Forgive us, master," Crabbe responded timidly. "We did not know it was not her. We thought you had ordered us to return."

"_Crucio_!" Voldemort shouted. Crabbe was soon screaming in agony from the effects of the curse. When Voldemort released him, he was whimpering on the floor. "Let that be a lesson to all of you. This attack does not end unless you hear me give the order personally or you are all dead. Do you understand me?" There was a chorus of assent from his followers before Voldemort continued. "Good. Then return to the school. Crush the Mudblood lovers and bring Harry Potter before me."

The Death Eaters left Voldemort quickly, in a rush to escape from the presence of their vengeful master. "You should not be so hard on them, my Lord," Bellatrix said once they had gone. "My filthy niece can be so convincing when she wants to be."

"My servants must not permit themselves to be so deceived, Bella," the Dark Lord replied calmly. "They will have learnt from this and I will not permit them to be fooled again. You do not object, do you Bella?"

"No, my Lord."

"Master," interrupted the snivelling voice of Wormtail.

"I see you have returned, Wormtail," Voldemort said coldly. "What do you have to report?"

"The secret passages are unguarded, my Lord," Wormtail earnestly informed his master.

"Very good Wormtail. Now, fetch Dolohov here." Moments later Wormtail returned with Dolohov. "Dolohov, you are to follow Wormtail. He will lead you, Rookwood, Rabastan Lestrange and any others of my servants you choose along with some of Nagini's children through the secret passages into the school. Afterwards, send him back here and you will be in charge inside."

"As you desire, my Lord," Dolohov responded. "What are we to do inside the school?"

"Cause as much damage as you can," Voldemort said, smiling cruelly. "Find those within who will support me and get them to aid you. Kill all of our enemies that you find, especially Dumbledore if you can, and if at all possible bring Harry Potter to me."

"As you desire, master. Hogwarts will become a death trap for our foes. Come on Wormtail." Dolohov and Wormtail left, Wormtail clearly unhappy to be around the other Death Eater, but equally clearly in no position to complain about his instructions.

"Now Bella," Voldemort said, "I have a special treat for you. We have captured an Auror and I want you to get information from him. Find out what Dumbledore has planned. I'm sure you will have fun."

"Thank you, master." Bellatrix left to see the Auror. Minutes later Voldemort could hear the Auror screaming with agony and a cold mirthless smile settled on to his face as he waited for more news from his army.


	14. Hermione in Charge

"Quickly please," Hermione Granger called out to the students. Her position as Head Girl meant that she had been chosen by Dumbledore to see to it that all the pupils assembled safely in the Great Hall. "If you will all settle down the prefects will make sure everybody is here."

"Why are we here?" asked the drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. "Don't we have a right to be told, especially us prefects?"

"Shut up Malfoy," Ron said.

"Now Ron, he does have a point," Hermione responded. "The reason we are here, as I'm sure you already know Draco," her voice was particularly civil as she addressed Malfoy, the effort obvious, "is because Lord Voldemort has launched an attack upon Hogwarts." There was a collective gasp of shock throughout the hall at this news, while many pupils reacted violently to the mention of Voldemort's name. "You-Know-Who's attacking?" was quietly asked by many of them. There were, however, some students who were noticeably less than shocked, Crabbe and Goyle prominent amongst them, while several other Slytherins seemed to be uncertain as to how they should react.

"So the day's finally come then," Malfoy said. "The Dark Lord has come to take this school away from that Muggle-loving fool of a headmaster. It's about time if you ask me."

"Nobody asked you, Malfoy," said Ernie Macmillan, the Head Boy, "so why don't you keep your mouth shut?"

"As the senior Slytherin prefect I have every bit as much right to my opinion as anybody else has. I can't help it if all you Mudbloods don't like it."

"Shut up Malfoy," Ron repeated.

"Make me." Ron began to draw his wand ready to cast a spell but he was prevented from doing anything to Draco by Hermione's intervention. "Now's not the time for this, Ron," she said. "We really need to make sure that everybody's here and that they are all fine."

"All right," Ron grudgingly agreed as he put his wand away. "I'll look after the Gryffindors."

"Thank you Ron. Hannah, would you be willing to deal with the Hufflepuffs and Padma, will you look after the Ravenclaws?" After seeing the two DA members nod she turned back to Draco. "And I presume you are quite happy to be put in charge of the Slytherins?"

"Oh of course, your mighty Head Girlness," he replied sarcastically. "It would be an honour to obey the instructions of a Mudblood."

"Shut up Malfoy," came a chorus of several voices.

"If that is all, your Knowallness?" Hermione nodded tiredly before Malfoy said "Crabbe, Goyle, we'd best get our housemates prepared."

"You don't seriously believe he's going to help, do you Hermione?" Ernie asked.

"Of course not, Ernie. I know very well he hopes the Death Eaters get in here and kill or torture us all, preferably starting with Ron and me. Unfortunately, we don't really have anybody else we can reasonably ask to deal with the Slytherins since the other prefects are almost as bad as he is. That's why we wanted you here," Hermione said, turning to the DA member she had not yet addressed, the perpetually surly Zacharius Smith.

"What do you want me to do?" Smith asked.

"You've got a younger sister in Slytherin, correct?" After seeing Smith nod, Hermione continued "We'd quite like it if you would go and talk to her."

"Ursula and I don't exactly get on. Slytherins and Hufflepuffs aren't really close, you know."

"Still, you don't think she wants Voldemort to win do you?" After briefly flinching at the name, Smith shook his head. "In that case, if the two of you could quietly counteract whatever Malfoy tries to do to sabotage Dumbledore's plan that would be exceptionally helpful."

"All right, I'll go and have a word with my sister." Smith moved off to the Slytherin table where he stopped to talk to a blond girl who looked much like him. After a short discussion, the two of them moved off to have a private conversation, completely ignoring the dirty looks Malfoy was giving them.

A few minutes later, Hannah, Padma and Ron returned to tell Hermione that everybody from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, with the exception of the DA members helping to defend the castle and the first years, who had gathered in the infirmary to give Madam Pomfrey whatever help they could, had arrived in the Great Hall. Zacharias Smith rejoined them a short while afterwards. "Ursula says she will keep an eye on Malfoy. She's going to try to get the Slytherins to keep to Dumbledore's plan, but she says she can't promise anything."

"That's good enough, Zacharias," Hermione told him. "We should at least get some warning of whatever Malfoy's up to now. All we can do now is wait to see what happens."

"I'm not very good at waiting, Hermione," Ron objected.

"None of us are Ron, at least when it comes to waiting for Voldemort to attack. But we don't have much choice. Until Dumbledore tells us differently or a Death Eater turns up here, we are responsible for looking after all the students here. We have to wait and hope." The other DA members nodded in unhappy agreement, each of them wishing that they could be fighting the Death Eaters, where they would at least feel they were useful.


	15. Herbology Can Be Useful

Neville Longbottom was extremely uncomfortable. He had never wanted to be a leader and he was always terrible at lying, but now he was in the middle of a deception that had to succeed. As Harry Potter he was, naturally enough, at the very centre of the action. The DA had been split up into groups and had joined the Aurors and Order members who were defending the castle grounds. The good news for them was that, true to Dumbledore's word, not one Dementor could enter the castle grounds so long as he was alive. The bad news was that the protection did not work against giants, Death Eaters or, much to the horror of Parvati Patil, snakes. "I hate snakes," Parvati said again after stunning the fourth one that had headed in her direction.

"We know, Parvati," Neville said, trying to make himself sound like Harry. "We've got to deal with them though. And the Death Eaters." As he said this, Neville directed a stunning spell towards Nott, who was leading a group of Death Eaters in their direction. Nott hastily erected a shield, then replied with a curse of his own.

"Well said, Potter," little Professor Flitwick interjected squeakily. "We won't let any of them into the school if we can avoid it." To the surprise of several of the students, the tiny charms teacher was proving to be an effective and mean spirited fighter. Showing why he was once a duelling champion, he had already downed several of Voldemort's lesser servants with some fairly innovative charms.

The group, comprised of Parvati, Neville, Flitwick, Sprout, Bill Weasley, the Auror Williamson, Ginny, Terry Boot, Susan Bones and Elphias Doge, were putting up a very good fight. However, the Death Eaters and Voldemort's snakes just kept coming.

"Professor Sprout, behind you!" Ginny suddenly called out. Sprout turned round just in time to avoid the group of boulders that an enemy had levitated and tried to drop on top of her.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley," said the herbology professor.

"Where did You-Know-Who get this many followers?" Terry Boot asked. "From what you've said in the past, Harry, he's never had this many before."

"I've never seen this many Death Eaters before, no," said Neville. "But I understand he had hundreds of followers in the last war, not all of them Death Eaters."

"I'm afraid Mr Potter is correct," said Flitwick, lapsing momentarily into his teaching role. "There were hundreds of people devoted to him, many of them not of their own free will. You didn't know whom to trust. It was very fortunate that Hogwarts was always a safe haven for those who opposed him."

"I don't think this is the time, professor," Bill put in. "We really need to concentrate on the Death Eaters." As he spoke, his words were underlined by the appearance of another group of Death Eaters, this one led by Karkaroff.

"Karkaroff?" said Susan in surprise. "I didn't realise he was a Death Eater."

"We knew he was in the past," Doge interjected, "but we didn't know he'd rejoined You-Know-Who. The last anybody in the Order had heard he was still on the run somewhere in Eastern Europe."

"In any event he's here now," Bill said. "Ginny, watch out for those snakes."

Ginny looked to her left and saw four large, bright green snakes closing in on her fast. "_Reducto_!" she shouted, the spell ploughing into the ground just in front of the snakes and sending them flying through the air. One of the snakes landed on top of a Death Eater and instinctively bit him. The Death Eater, screaming in pain due to the snake's potent venom, soon collapsed to the floor dead. Other Death Eaters came to take his place, however, and in spite of their resistance the group was in danger of being overwhelmed. Before the Death Eaters could make their numerical advantage tell, however, Fawkes arrived carrying the red envelope of a Howler. Fawkes deliberately dropped the envelope in the midst of the Death Eaters where, after a brief moment, it burst into flames and the deafening voice of Dumbledore called out "RETREAT TO THE CASTLE. A NEW SET OF DEFENCES HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED THERE." The nearest Death Eaters to the Howler fell to the ground clutching their ears, which were bleeding because their eardrums had burst due to the immensely loud voice. Several other Death Eaters were confused and temporarily unable to hear. Seeing their foes withdrawing they attempted to curse them, but many of their curses went awry, some of them backfiring badly enough that their robes burst into flames.

In the midst of this chaos, the group managed to reach the castle. They swiftly went inside and closed the front door, but not before Sprout had an idea. "Wait a minute," she said. "_Accio Mandrakes_!" Minutes later, half a dozen or so flower pots had arrived, obviously containing Mandrakes. "I'm going to set these up to delay the Death Eaters," Sprout explained. "When they break through the doors and enter the hall, I will shatter the flower pots, the Mandrakes will naturally enough cry out …"

"Which will incapacitate the Death Eaters," Neville finished. "But Professor Sprout, won't their cry kill us too?"

"I intend to be the only one near enough to be effected, Potter. In any event, these Mandrakes shouldn't kill. They're slightly too young for that."

"It will still be dangerous, Professor," Bill said. "Can't we set up some way to set them off safely?"

"I'm afraid we don't have time, William," Flitwick said. "And it's clear Professor Sprout wouldn't do that even if we did. You aren't going to persuade her to change her mind; she's far too stubborn for that. What we all need are some earmuffs." With that, Flitwick set about conjuring up several sets of earmuffs so they wouldn't hear the Mandrakes' cries.

"Why aren't you going to wear any earmuffs, Professor?" Susan asked her head of house.

"You've seen what can happen when you try casting a spell and you can't hear, right?" Susan nodded so Sprout continued. "I'm not going to take the chance that I misspeak the words of the spell or something else because I can't hear."

"Put your earmuffs on, everyone," Flitwick squeaked. The sound of pounding on the doors could be clearly heard. The Death Eaters were doing their best to break through. "I doubt they will hold much longer." The others rushed to obey. Almost as soon as they had donned their earmuffs, the doors splintered into many sharp pieces, blown inwards with an immense force. Several of the shards collided with members of the group, causing quite nasty cuts. About a dozen bloody Death Eaters could be seen standing in the now empty doorway, while others were on the floor, some breathing heavily while unconscious, others clearly dead. The defences built into the doors had clearly done as they were designed to and had taken their toll upon the Death Eaters. The still standing Death Eaters poured triumphantly into the castle, halting in surprise in front of Sprout and her flower pots. Sprout took full advantage of their confusion, repeatedly crying "_Reducto_", blowing up the pots one by one. The Mandrakes inside were less than happy to have their sleep disturbed and began to cry out. Moments after hearing the cries of the Mandrakes, the Death Eaters and Sprout had collapsed unconscious to the floor. Flitwick, taking great care to get the spell right, cast a silence charm upon each of the Mandrakes. Once this was done, everybody removed their earmuffs.

"Is she all right?" Susan asked worriedly.

"She's fine," Terry replied after examining her and the Death Eaters. "They're all right too. What should we do with them?"

"Well, Hogwarts has a perfectly working Dungeon, does it not?" Williamson suggested. "Why not put them there? From what I remember, Filch has plenty of chains I'm sure he would be willing to lend us for the purpose."

"I think you're correct, Williamson," Flitwick said. "Terry, Susan, take Professor Sprout to the infirmary along with the wounded Death Eaters. Tell Madam Pomfrey to make sure the Death Eaters are restrained. She won't like it, but she'll understand." Terry and Susan left to carry out Flitwick's instructions. "Harry, Ginny and Parvati stay here with Williamson. Make sure that no Death Eater gets inside if you can avoid it. William, you stay here too. You're in charge. Elphias and I will take the Death Eaters to the dungeons and get some chains from Argus. We'll be back as soon as we can." Doge and Flitwick headed off in the direction of the dungeons, the unconscious Death Eaters immobilised and levitated for ease of transport. Neville and Ginny turned back to the doorway, making sure that no Death Eater would sneak in behind their backs.


	16. The Battle of the Quidditch Pitch

On the Quidditch pitch, a running battle was taking place between two of the larger groups either side had assembled. Mad-Eye Moody had led his small group, composed of himself, Tonks, Dawlish, Mundugus Fletcher and Mr Weasley to the aid of a group under Professor McGonagall's command. McGonagall's group had been sucked into a trap when a small group of Death Eaters led by Avery retreated to the Quidditch pitch where they made a stand. Quickly coming to their aid was a brigade of giants accompanied by Macnair and four of Nagini's children. The giants and snakes smashed through the stands into McGonagall's flank, killing the Aurors accompanying her and inflicting horrible wounds on Anthony Goldstein, one of the DA members assigned to help her. Avery's Death Eaters also managed to wound or kill some of the Order members. Voldemort's forces would have completely engulfed McGonagall's group if Moody hadn't arrived. The two groups, combined into one, managed to stun several of the giants and in the chaos caused by their collapse they successfully withdrew to a position beneath one set of goalposts.

"What do you think we should do, Alastor?" McGonagall asked Moody.

"We've got them tied down, but the same is true of us. If Albus wants, we could hold them here all day, but we aren't going to be able to beat them."

"So you think we should retreat?" McGonagall said, surprised Moody would suggest such a thing.

"No," Moody replied firmly. "Not unless Albus tells us to or they bring up more enemies than we can handle. If we hold them here, they aren't going to be breaking into the castle."

"We stand and fight then?"

"Yes. Arthur," Moody called to Mr Weasley, "take these youngsters round to the left." Moody indicated Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas and Dennis Creevey. "Try to catch them napping. If you can't, don't take any chances."

"Right, Mad-Eye," Mr Weasley acknowledged, more than willing to take the directions of the most battle-hardened person there. Mr Weasley's small group managed to move into a position where they could catch their enemies in a crossfire, but as soon as they cast their first hexes, stunning several of their foes, they were pinned down by counter-curses sent flying in their direction.

"Young Creevy," Moody said to Colin, who had been wounded in the fierce fighting that had already taken place, "take Goldstein to the infirmary. Poppy needs to deal with him. Take Hestia too. And while you're there, get yourself looked at. Get back here as soon as you can." Colin rushed off to obey Moody's orders, leading Hestia Jones and Anthony Goldstein's stretchers towards the castle. After Colin had left, Moody called to McGonagall "Minerva, you're in charge here. I'm going to see what chaos I can cause with my invisibility cloak." Moody awkwardly shrugged his cloak on, hampered by the loss of his arm, and vanished from sight. A short while later two giants were persuaded to fight one another after mud and stones had been thrown from the direction of one of them to hit the other. The Death Eaters were forced to move swiftly to avoid being trodden on by the enraged behemoths.

"So Minny, what d' you wan' us to do?" Mundungus asked McGonagall.

"I suppose we need to get back to fighting," she replied. "Fletcher, go left, though not as far left as the children. Tonks, go right. Take any opportunity you get to confuse them, the way Mad-Eye is. Dawlish, you and I will head straight up the middle. We'll disable the Death Eaters and giants if we can."

"Can we kill them?" Dawlish asked.

"Albus doesn't want us to," McGonagall replied. "He doesn't like killing. But I'm in charge here, so yes, if you feel the situation requires it. Don't get yourselves hurt trying not to kill them. Are you ready?" The other three nodded in the affirmative, so McGonagall said "Let's go then." Dawlish and McGonagall sent curses into the midst of their foes, giving Tonks and Mundungus the cover they needed to move to their new positions. Soon after moving, Mundungus hit one of the Death Eaters with a vicious hex he had learnt during his shady dealings, causing her to break out in nasty, pus-filled boils that soon burst, blinding her and causing her to choke. Tonks meanwhile used her Auror training and metamorphmagus abilities exquisitely, changing her features to better camouflage herself and changing position each time she used a curse. She was proving an annoyance on the Death Eaters' left flank, while Moody provided distractions from behind the Death Eaters, often causing the less than bright giants to swing around in ponderous circles, sometimes taking out their own allies in the process. The battle continued to rage around the Quidditch pitch until long after dawn, at which point the Death Eaters began to withdraw. However, with Moody causing chaos and the DA members having managed to manoeuvre into a position where they had cut off their most immediate line of retreat, several of the Death Eaters and giants were wounded, knocked unconscious or killed before the engagement was finished.

"What now?" Tonks asked McGonagall after the Death Eaters had retreated.

"I suppose we should head back to the castle. Dumbledore might need us there soon."

The group swiftly reunited and moved in the direction of the castle knowing that they had delayed the Death Eaters advance, but also knowing that the Death Eaters would soon attack again.


	17. The Watching Headmaster

Professor Albus Dumbledore stood solemnly watching the battle unfold from within the Room of Requirement. He could see that the defenders of the castle had done far better than he could have ever hoped. Everywhere that Voldemort's servants had clashed with the teachers, Order Members and DA, the Death Eaters had come off worse and were now in retreat. In addition, the Death Eaters and giants were involved in fierce battles in the Forbidden Forest and the lake. In the forest Hagrid, with the assistance of Firenze, had managed to persuade more of its denizens to come to their aid than anybody could have hoped. Aragog and his children had cheerfully joined in, both to aid Hagrid and for the chance to feed upon the Death Eaters, something Dumbledore was uncomfortable with but accepted as necessary. Firenze had managed to persuade a small number of his fellow centaurs to join him in resisting Voldemort, and the centaurs proved very effective in making hit and run raids upon the Death Eaters flanks, withdrawing before they could be targeted with many spells. Grawp had also proved his worth, leading the few giants that had decided to fight against Voldemort into a vicious battle with the forces of Gurg Golgomath.

Meanwhile, a few Death Eaters had attempted to outflank the defenders of Hogwarts by crossing the lake in the small boats the first year students used every year. Just as the boats reached the centre of the lake, the giant squid sunk them, leaving the Death Eaters stranded. Some giants were sent to aid them, but the instant they set foot into the lake they were attacked by merpeople. The lake was now the scene of fierce combat, as the giants and Death Eaters attempted to either fight their way across the lake to the castle or to safety amongst their fellows.

Dumbledore knew, however, that this would not last. Although the defenders had performed far beyond his wildest expectations, they had suffered losses. While there were many more wounded or captured Death Eaters than there were defenders, several of the defenders had died in the desperate defence of the castle grounds. Also, the Death Eaters were now consolidating into larger groups. Sooner or later, they would overwhelm the defenders, by sheer numbers if nothing else, at which point they would be able to enter the castle. This didn't even take into account the Death Eaters Dumbledore could already see making their way through the Hogsmeade secret passages into the school. "I fear," Dumbledore tiredly told his phoenix, "that I may have made a mistake in permitting the Death Eaters access through the secret passages. The students will soon have to fend for themselves. However, we must do the best we can with the situation." Dumbledore swiftly conjured three rolls of parchment and a quill which he used to write three letters. "Would you please take these letters?" Dumbledore asked Fawkes. After seeing the magical bird incline his head indicating that he would, Dumbledore continued "Take the first letter to Hermione Granger then deliver the second to Charlie Weasley and the last to Remus Lupin." As soon as the phoenix took the letters, he vanished leaving Dumbledore alone in the room. "Now," the old professor said to himself "all we can do is wait and see what Tom has planned for us." He tiredly turned his attention back to the models of the school. They now showed the defenders of the castle withdrawing to its safety, though every one of their faces clearly showed the knowledge that the school itself would soon be under siege. Dumbledore silently watched as the Death Eaters renewed the battle, trying to determine where he could most effectively intervene.


	18. The Evacuation

Hermione was sitting watching the nervous students in the Great Hall when Fawkes appeared next to her. She swiftly took the letter he offered her, at which point Fawkes disappeared as swiftly as he arrived. Hermione looked at the letter written in Dumbledore's familiar handwriting. It said:

_Hermione,_

_A group of Death Eaters has entered the secret passages and is moving towards you. They must be planning to attack you. Please look after the students and try to keep them calm._

_Good Luck,_

_Dumbledore_

"Damn," Hermione said quietly.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked. Hermione showed him the letter. After reading it through twice, Ron swore feelingly. "What are we going to do?"

"Call the others over here. Quietly Ron," Hermione said, preventing Ron from shouting to the other DA members as it looked as if he was going to do. "We don't want to start a panic." The two Gryffindors quietly set about assembling all the DA that was in the area. Soon the six of them had gathered together away from everybody else.

"What's the problem?" Ernie asked.

"Dumbledore sent me a letter," Hermione replied. "Apparently we've got several Death Eaters coming towards us."

"Bugger," Ernie said mildly. "What should we do?"

"Well, I think the students would be safe in the common rooms," Hermione responded. "The Death Eaters would have trouble getting past the guardians. I'm not certain we can get them there without a panic though."

"The Hufflepuff common room's nearest," Hannah said. "We might be able to rush everybody there in an emergency."

"That might work, but if we try to move them now it would be chaotic."

"How long do we have before they get here?" Padma asked.

"I don't know," Hermione responded. "Dumbledore didn't say. They might arrive at any minute."

"We'd better get ready to move everybody then," Ernie said.

"You're right. Ron, do you have the Marauder's Map?" Hermione asked.

"Here?" Ron replied, obviously surprised at the question "No."

"Then get it and get back here as quickly as you can, please. It would be useful to see where the Death Eaters are on the map." Ron left to return to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione turned to the other DA members. "Padma, Hannah, try to get the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs ready to leave. Ernie, tell Ron to do the same with the Gryffindors when he gets back. I think we'll want to keep everybody taking NEWT Defence Against the Dark Arts here though. They should be of some help in delaying the Death Eaters."

"What are you going to be doing?" Zacharias asked her.

"Distracting Malfoy," Hermione replied, an extremely sour look on her face. "I don't think we want him knowing what we're up to."

As the prefects moved off to make preparations for the imminent Death Eater attack, Hermione walked over to the Slytherin table. Pansy Parkinson saw her arrival. "What do you want, Granger?" the pug-faced Slytherin prefect asked.

"I'm here to talk with your boyfriend," Hermione said with a false sweetness reminiscent of Professor Umbridge.

"What if he doesn't want to talk to you?" Pansy asked belligerently.

"Then unfortunately for him," Hermione said, her temper shorter than normal, "I'm the Head Girl and the witch Professor Dumbledore put in charge of looking after the students. I will either make him talk to me or deal with one of the other Slytherin prefects instead."

"As if that would do you any good," Pansy responded scathingly. "None of the Slytherin prefects is going to listen to a Mudblood like you, not if they know what's good for them at any rate. And Draco's too busy to speak to you anyway."

"I'm going to talk to Malfoy, whether you like it or not Parkinson. Do you want to try and stop me?" Hermione demanded of the other witch.

"I most certainly do." Pansy went for her wand and attempted to stun Hermione. Although she was caught by surprise, Hermione swiftly cast a shield charm, reflecting the spell back towards Pansy who dived out of the way. Pansy changed tack, attempting to attack Hermione with a spell similar to the bat-bogey hex. Hermione again countered the spell and was preparing to take the offensive when the impromptu duel was interrupted. The exchange of spells had naturally drawn the attention of the nearby Slytherins, most of whom were cheering Pansy on. A few, however, were not doing so and one of them intervened. "_Expelliarmus_!" a deep female voice called out. Pansy's wand was sent flying out of her hand. Everybody turned to look in the direction the spell had come from.

"What did you do that for?" Pansy asked her bigger housemate.

"Are you out of your mind, Pansy?" asked Millicent Bulstrode. "An unprovoked attack on the Head Girl, especially when she's been put in charge of all the students by the headmaster. You'll be lucky if you only get detention out of this."

"It's the end of the year, Bulstrode," Pansy responded defiantly. "Why would I care what happens? We're going to be leaving school soon, and with any luck the Dark Lord is going to take over anyway. It's the perfect time to give the Mudblood what she deserves."

"Don't be stupid Pansy," Millicent said with a sneer very similar to Snape's. "Granger's much better than you are. You don't have a chance of beating her in a duel, even with the surprise attack you managed to get off."

"Of course I can beat that Mudblood," Pansy said arrogantly. "If she wasn't every teacher's favourite she'd never have got the marks she has."

Millicent snorted. "Then why," she asked, "has Granger got consistently better marks than you in Potions? Our head of house can't stand her any more than the rest of us. That's not even considering that she took as many NEWTs as the two of us put together. And she's consistently been one of the best in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Only Potter's been able to beat her. Face it; Granger's more than capable of defending herself."

"Why did you butt in, Bulstrode? Nobody asked you to get involved," Pansy responded sullenly, obviously unwilling to concede Millicent had a point. "Have you become a Mudblood lover all of a sudden?"

"Don't be a prat, Pansy," Millicent said wearily shaking her head. "Of course I haven't started liking Granger. She's got almost as much use for Slytherins as I have for Gryffindors. And you might perhaps have noticed my past dealings with her?" Millicent added sarcastically.

"Then why are you helping her?" Pansy demanded.

"Pansy, I'm not helping her," Millicent responded calmly. "I'm keeping you and every other Slytherin safe. It might have escaped your notice," she continued sarcastically, "but we are slightly outnumbered here. If you harm the Head Girl you'll have at least the other seventh year prefects retaliating, and with them would come about half their houses, more in the case of Gryffindor. We'd have a damn battle on our hands here, and now is not the time for that."

"Fine then," Pansy said sulkily. "Since you're so keen to keep everybody safe you can deal with Granger." She stalked off to put as much difference as possible between herself and Hermione, pausing only to retrieve her wand. The other Slytherins, not wanting to deal with the Muggleborn Gryffindor Head Girl or the exasperated Millicent Bulstrode also dispersed, leaving the two seventh years alone.

"Thank you," Hermione said to Millicent, obviously surprised that the girl who had tormented and assaulted her on several occasions had intervened on her behalf.

"Don't thank me," Millicent responded. "What I told Pansy was the truth. I didn't get involved for your sake. Now, what do you want Granger?"

"I came over here to see Draco Malfoy. Do you know where he is?" Hermione asked, still surprised that she was able to have a civil conversation with Millicent Bulstrode.

"I haven't seen him since he stormed over here telling everybody that You-Know-Who is attacking the school and that we'd be on the right side if we know what's good for us," Millicent replied.

Hermione, not fully trusting Millicent, thanked her again for her aid then made her way to talk to Ursula Smith who confirmed that Draco had gone, leaving Pansy in charge of the Slytherins. 'That partly explains her belligerence,' Hermione thought as she returned to the other DA members. 'She didn't want me to know that Draco was gone. He might have told her to try and provoke a fight too.'

"What was all the commotion about?" Zacharias asked when she returned.

"Pansy Parkinson attacked me," Hermione replied. "I think she wanted to prevent me finding out that Malfoy has gone missing."

"Gone missing?" Zacharias repeated incredulously.

"Yes. He's not been seen by any of the Slytherins in the last hour or so. I'm not sure what he's been doing," Hermione continued, "but I'm sure it can't be good. Malfoy never does anything to help anybody that's not a pureblood fanatic."

"What did my sister have to say about the Slytherins?" Zacharias enquired, obviously interested despite his earlier protests that the two of them did not get along.

"Nothing overly useful, I'm afraid," Hermione said ruefully. "She confirmed what Bulstrode told me about Malfoy then said that the Slytherins are pretty divided. About half of them seem willing to follow Malfoy's lead, nearly as many are apparently unready to openly commit themselves to any side, while a few have declared themselves loyal to Dumbledore."

"I'd imagine the Dumbledore loyalists are a bit uncomfortable at the minute," Zacharias said with considerable understatement.

"Surprisingly, the followers of Malfoy, meaning essentially those who will follow Voldemort," Zacharias flinched at the name, a reaction Hermione completely ignored, "haven't done anything to the Dumbledore loyalists yet. From what Bulstrode said, I think they may be worried about starting a battle while they don't have any Death Eaters to help them."

"That seems a bit too clever for Malfoy," Zacharias noted. "He normally doesn't care what anybody who isn't a pureblood thinks."

"I know," Hermione said, agreeing with Zacharias's assessment of the situation. "From what Ursula told me, I think it's Nott's idea. He hasn't openly declared for Voldemort yet," Zacharias flinched again, "but it looks like he's quietly trying to persuade as many people as he can that the Death Eaters are going to win. Ursula's been doing everything she can to counter his arguments, but the Slytherins most inclined to agree with Nott don't exactly respect her."

"Why's that?" Zacharias demanded, less than happy at the implied insult to his sister. "She's every bit as much a pureblood as Nott is."

"Yes," Hermione responded matter-of-factly, "but Nott doesn't have you for a brother."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zacharias asked belligerently.

"I mean Nott doesn't have any Hufflepuff relatives," Hermione explained. "If you were a Ravenclaw you'd be tolerated. If you were a Gryffindor you might be grudgingly respected, but the pureblood fanatics see Hufflepuffs as beneath contempt. That attitude is really working against your sister. To be honest," she continued, "I'm not really surprised about the general Slytherin attitude. They're not going to want to choose sides until they have to. Which way most of them will jump I really can't say."

Just as Hermione finished telling Zacharias what was going on with the Slytherins, a breathless Ron ran into the Great Hall. "We've got trouble," he said immediately, drawing stares from most of the students. Hermione gave him a reproachful look, at which Ron moved closer to the two DA members and lowered his voice. "Sorry about that, Hermione, but we really have got serious trouble."

"What's the problem Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Look," Ron said, laying the Marauder's Map in front of her. "Down here where this secret passage from Hogsmeade connects to the castle." Ron pointed to the map where a name could be clearly seen – Peter Pettigrew. "Wormtail's going to pop his rat-like head into the castle any time now, and you can be sure the other Death Eaters won't be far behind. If you look closely," Ron continued, gesturing at the map once again, "you can see several other names inside the passage. I don't recognise most of them, but we've met these three before."

"Yes," Hermione said quietly. "Algernon Rookwood, Rabastan Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov. I doubt they'll have forgotten or forgiven us either."

"How long before they get here?" Zacharias put in.

"It's not easy to say," Hermione responded. "Wormtail will probably dawdle a bit to make sure he's safe, but the other Death Eaters will likely move quicker."

"They already are," said Ron, returning the others' attention to the map. "The Death Eaters have speeded up. I think they might be running now. That's not all though; look who's just joined Wormtail." Next to Peter Pettigrew could now be seen the name of Draco Malfoy.

Hermione swore, quietly but feelingly. "Malfoy's probably going to tell them exactly where we are. I knew his disappearance couldn't be good. We need to get everybody out of here now."

"How are we going to do that though?" Zacharias asked. "We might be able to move the Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws quickly and without trouble, but we'll never be able to do that with the Slytherins, especially with Malfoy's cronies working against us."

"He's right, you know," Ron said. "We should probably forget the Slytherins."

"We're not going to do that, Ron," Hermione said. "Dumbledore put me in charge of looking after all the students and, whether we like it or not, that includes the Slytherins."

"I know, I know. I wasn't being serious," Ron responded in a manner that made it clear he wasn't joking about leaving the Slytherins behind, or at least not that much. "So how are we going to do this then?"

"We need to get the others over here, quickly and quietly. It's a good thing I brought Harry's galleon." Hermione reached into her pocket and activated the DA's Master Galleon. Within moments, the other DA prefects had come to her side.

"What's up?" Padma asked.

"We haven't got much time," Hermione responded. "Malfoy's going to lead several Death Eaters here in a little while. We need to get everybody out of here now. Are they ready?"

"The Hufflepuffs are ready to go back to our common room," Hannah said. "I'll get them moving."

"The Ravenclaws are more or less ready too," Padma said earnestly. "There shouldn't be too many problems getting them to follow the Hufflepuffs if that's where we're all going."

"It will have to be," Hermione said. "We really don't have time to take everybody back to their own common rooms, so Hufflepuff is the safest place. Ron, go to the Gryffindors and get them moving as best you can. Padma, Hannah, get Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff moving too. Remember to keep the NEWT Defence students here if they agree though. Zacharias, keep looking at the map. Take Harry's galleon too. Signal the rest of us if the Death Eaters are near to anybody. Ernie and I will try to persuade the Slytherins to move with everybody else."

Everybody moved off to carry out their part in Hermione's evacuation plan. Within moments, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were moving towards the door nearest the Hufflepuff common room in a fairly orderly manner, although there were obviously some students less than happy with the situation. The Gryffindors were beginning to move in the right direction too. Hermione and Ernie, however, were having much more difficulty with the Slytherins. "Why should we follow you?" Pansy Parkinson asked belligerently, apparently voicing the thoughts of several Slytherins.

"Because, Parkinson," Ernie said, "we are the Head Boy and Girl and the headmaster has put us in charge of looking after all the students, which includes the Slytherins too."

"And why," Theodore Nott put in, "should we leave the Great Hall, the place where all of the teachers, most especially the headmaster and our head of house, told us to stay?"

"Why don't you ask your friend Malfoy when he gets here?" Hermione said. "I'm sure he knows exactly why we're leaving."

"Well, since he's not here," Nott continued, "why don't you spell it out for us. You do so like to explain things, don't you Granger?" he said sarcastically.

"We don't have time to discuss this Nott," Hermione said exasperatedly. "Now, are you going to do as we say or should we leave you here?"

"I think we'll go along with you for now, Granger. Don't you agree, Parkinson?" Nott said, looking briefly at the prefect who nodded, plainly willing to follow her housemate's lead. "So where are we going to be following you to?"

"The Hufflepuff common room," Ernie replied. "Everybody should be safe there."

"Why should we go to the Hufflepuff common room?" Daphne Greengrass asked, seeming genuinely curious. "Surely there isn't room for all four houses in that little cave of theirs."

"Yes," Vincent Crabbe said. "If we go to any common room it should be ours. We should wait here for Draco."

"Look," Hermione said tiredly, "we really don't have time for this. Hufflepuff's common room is the closest and there should be enough room for a while at least. Now, would you all please follow the Head Boy to the Hufflepuff common room?"

"Why not?" Nott said. "We have nothing to lose by doing as you ask. Parkinson, get our house ordered and we can then go have a look at Hufflepuff's miserable excuse for a dungeon." Pansy, completely ignoring the protests from Ernie and Hermione, made a great show of checking the name of each Slytherin to be sure they were there and ordering them by year and name. Several of the other Slytherins, most particularly some of the second and third years, seemed to regard the whole thing as a joke and took great delight in causing chaos, further slowing down the evacuation of the Great Hall.

"They're deliberately stalling, you know," Ernie said quietly to Hermione after the younger Slytherins had delayed the departure of their house for the umpteenth time.

"I know," Hermione responded equally quietly, "but what can we do about it? The two of us, three counting Zacharias, can't exactly force the entire house to get a move on if they don't want to. All we can do is try to get them organised and out of here before the Death Eaters arrive."

"All right, I'll go and have another word with Parkinson. Maybe this time she'll listen to me and either forget about this daft process altogether or use the bigger students to force the others into order." Ernie's tone of voice made it clear that he didn't hold out much hope that this would happen.

"While your doing that, I'll go and have a word with Zacharias. We need to know how near the Death Eaters are." Hermione left Ernie to remonstrate with the older Slytherins as she quickly moved to Zacharias's side. "What's happening?" she asked him.

"The Death Eaters are heading this way," Zacharias replied quietly. "Judging from the rate they are moving on the map, I'd estimate they'll be here in about a quarter of an hour."

"Damn, that doesn't give us much time," Hermione said feelingly. "How are the others doing?"

"Aside from the few students taking NEWT Defence Against the Dark Arts that have stayed here," Zacharias said indicating first the dozen or so non-DA Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students huddled together as far away from the Slytherins as they could get, then the area of the map where a large group of names could be seen gathered near the kitchens, "everybody is near our common room. They should be there long before any Death Eater can get near to them."

"Good. Now, I want you to lead the NEWT Defence pupils to the Slytherins. We've run out of time for appealing to their senses." Hermione quickly retraced her steps to the Slytherins, briefly glancing behind her to see that Zacharias was doing as she asked. When she got there, it was plain to see that the situation had not improved in the brief time she had been looking at the map. "_Sonorous_," she muttered quietly, then using her now unnaturally loud voice shouted "QUIET!" Every bit of noise in the hall ceased almost instantly. "Good. Now, since you are unwilling to move because you are asked to, I must tell you why we want you to move. This wasn't revealed earlier because we wanted to avoid a panic, but time is short. You heard earlier that Voldemort," Hermione ignored the predictable reaction to the name, "is attacking the school. Well, the reason we want everybody to move to the Hufflepuff common room is because a group of Death Eaters have managed to penetrate the castle and are now nearing here. If you don't want to risk waiting to see what they will do with you, go ahead. I would advise, however that you follow the Head Boy as quickly and safely as you can. Ernie, if you would please lead the way."

Ernie headed out of the Great Hall as quickly as he could with most of the Slytherins, now thrown into a panic by Hermione's words, hot on his heels, though a few of them, most noticeably Crabbe and Goyle, continued to hang back as though they were waiting for something. They left not a moment too soon. Just before Hermione left, the first black masked figure burst into the Great Hall. Hermione avoided the curse the Death Eater sent in her direction then slammed the door. As soon as it shut she cried "_Colloportus_!" ensuring that the Death Eaters would have to take the time to unlock the door before they could pursue them. Hermione then ran to catch up with Zacharias and the Defence students who, along with a few older Slytherins, were bringing up the rear.

"So what do we do now?" Zacharias called over his shoulder as they ran.

"We hope that none of them knows a short cut," Hermione replied.

"Is that all?" Zacharias asked.

"No, it isn't."

"Then what else do we do?" Zacharias enquired sarcastically.

"We run like hell and if we have to, we fight," Hermione said grimly. Nobody said a word in response, though they all speeded up, hoping that the Death Eaters would not catch up to them before they reached the safety of the Hufflepuff common room. A few minutes later, a loud bang could be heard behind them as the door Hermione had sealed was blasted off its hinges and the Death Eaters began their pursuit.


	19. Death Eater's Plans

"Well young Malfoy," Antonin Dolohov said angrily to Draco Malfoy, "what happened? Weren't you meant to have kept everybody here?"

"It wasn't my fault," Malfoy replied defiantly. "I told Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Parkinson and the rest to make sure nobody left. They have obviously failed the Dark Lord and will have to be punished. Still, it's got to be the fault of that Mudblood Granger that there's nobody here. She must have somehow learnt we were coming."

"Is that so?" Dolohov said menacingly. "And why didn't you take steps to prevent her doing that?"

"I tried," Malfoy said insolently. "The others failed."

"Enough. Since they have escaped, you must be rewarded. _Crucio_." Malfoy writhed in agony under the effects of the curse, though Dolohov quickly released him. Soon afterwards, Malfoy got to his feet with obvious effort. "Now that you have received your reward, we need to find the students. Where have they gone, young Malfoy?"

"I don't know, sir," Malfoy said, his tone of voice very diffident now. "I can find out, however. I gave Nott a communication mirror while Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle have locators. If I use the mirror and activate the location spell we will soon know what Granger planned."

"Very good, Malfoy," Dolohov said dropping the deliberately insulting young for the first time. "Then do so."

"Yes sir," Malfoy said slightly more confidently. He quickly muttered the spell that would activate his co-conspirator's locators. "It should be easy to find them now."

"Take three others and half a dozen serpents and follow them," Dolohov told Rabastan Lestrange who had been impassively watching while his nephew was disciplined. "If you can, catch them. Then deal with them as you feel appropriate."

"Thank you, Antonin," Rabastan said, a vicious smile on his face. "You, you and you come with me," he continued, pointing at three Death Eaters in turn. The Death Eaters gathered by the door Hermione had sealed as she fled. "_Alohamora_!" one of them yelled, though the spell had no effect. Another of the Death Eaters tried the same spell and got the same result. "Damn her," Rabastan snarled. "The Mudblood's obviously learned how to prevent the spell working. Stand aside." After the other Death Eaters cleared a path for him he shouted "_Reducto_!" The spell had the desired effect as the door flew into the corridor. "Now then," Rabastan said grimly, "we hunt." Rabastan and the three other Death Eaters raced after the students, followed by six snakes.

"Now, Malfoy," Dolohov said. "Why don't you contact young Nott and see if you can find out where they are going.

"Yes sir." Malfoy withdrew a small mirror from inside his robes. "Nott," he called into it. A short while later, a response could be heard. "Yes," came the quiet voice of Theodore Nott.

"What happened, Nott?" Malfoy asked. "Why did you leave?"

"We didn't want to, Malfoy," Nott said quietly. "We did everything we could to delay our departure, but Granger somehow found out that you were heading towards the Great Hall. She used that to persuade our housemates to leave. I can't exactly say much right now since we're running away as fast as we can, so if there's anything you want to know, ask now."

"We need to know where the Mudblood is taking you."

"We're going to the Hufflepuff common room," Nott responded, his voice barely above a whisper. "Granger thinks everybody will be safe from the Dark Lord there."

"Thank you, Nott," Malfoy said. "That will do for now. Tell everybody to go along with Granger's plans until you hear differently from me or one of the Dark Lord's loyal servants." Malfoy broke the connection and turned to Dolohov. "You heard what Nott said?" he asked.

"Yes," Dolohov replied. "They are going to the Hufflepuff common room where they foolishly believe they will be safe. We must disabuse them of that view. Do any of you know a way to make sure we reach their destination before they do?" he asked the other Death Eaters. After seeing them respond in the negative he continued. "No? Then we must rely on our little friend here. Wormtail," he said to the obviously worried little man, "you're supposed to be our expert on the structure of the school. What's the quickest route to the Hufflepuff common room from here?"

"The quickest way's probably through that door," Wormtail replied, indicating a different door to the one the students and the other Death Eaters had left through. "Then if you follow this route it shouldn't take long," he continued, showing the route to Dolohov on the map.

"You are certain of this?" Dolohov asked menacingly, the consequences of a mistake obvious. "Your record in leading us here does not inspire confidence."

"Yes," Wormtail squeaked. "That should be the quickest route to the Hufflepuff common room from here. Now I really must leave. The Dark Lord wants me back." Dolohov had appeared ready to say something unpleasant to Wormtail about his desertion of his fellows until their master was mentioned. "Very well Wormtail," he said. "Return to our master. I'm sure he can deal with you at least as well as I can."

"Thank you," Wormtail said, leaving Dolohov's presence as quickly as his legs would carry him.

"Now then," Dolohov said, "it is time for us to move and move quickly if we are to intercept them short of the Hufflepuff common room. Malfoy, you will lead, several yards ahead of us. When you meet them, you are to delay them. When we arrive, you and your allies are to attack them from behind."

"Yes sir." Malfoy ran off almost as fast as Wormtail had done. A minute or so later Dolohov led the remaining Death Eaters and snakes that had managed to penetrate the school followed him.


	20. Students on the Run

Hermione and Zacharias Smith, accompanied by half a dozen of the NEWT Defence students, hung back slightly from the Slytherins acting as a rearguard to hold off the pursuing Death Eaters. Hermione constantly kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure that there were no Death Eaters in sight. She was surprised therefore when a commotion ahead of them stopped the retreat. "Find out what's going on," she told Zacharias. Zacharias left to consult with Ernie. He returned a few minutes later accompanied by somebody else, a tall freckled redhead that Hermione recognised instantly. "What are you doing here?" she demanded of Ron. "You're supposed to be looking after everyone in the Hufflepuff common room."

"We were worried about you," Ron replied. "You should have reached the common room long before now. Everybody wondered what was wrong. Hannah was more than capable of looking after everybody, especially since she's got all the 5th and 6th year prefects to help her, so me and Padma came looking for you."

"And what would you have done if you ran into Death Eaters?" Hermione asked, incredulous that Ron would have taken such a risk and even more so that Padma had been willing to go along with him.

"We were hoping it wouldn't come to that," Ron said slightly sheepishly, though completely unrepentant, "and it didn't."

"But it could have, Ron," Hermione said exasperatedly. "How would that have helped anyone?"

"Well we're here now," said Padma who had come up while Hermione was berating Ron, "so we might as well get a move on. Standing around here won't do anybody but the Death Eaters any good."

"She's right," Zacharias said. "Unless we get moving they'll catch us."

"All right," Hermione said, "we do need to get to the common room as soon as we can. We will discuss this later though Ron." It was clear from her tone that Ron would not enjoy the discussion. "Ernie!" Hermione shouted to the leader of the vanguard. "Lead on. If we don't reach the common room soon we're in trouble. Everybody, follow the Head Boy."

The group began to move towards the common room again, moving as fast as they could while staying together. Soon enough they were nearing the Hufflepuff common room. "We should get to the common room in a few minutes," Zacharias said. As he said this, there was another commotion at the front of the group. "Wait!" called out Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy?" Ron said. "What's he doing here?"

"How did he get ahead of us?" Zacharias asked. "He was with the Death Eaters. There's no way he should have been able to get ahead of us."

"I don't know," Hermione replied. It can't be good for us though given that he tried to lead the Death Eaters straight to us. I'm going to see what he wants. You three stay here and make sure the Death Eaters don't sneak up on us." Ron, Padma and Zacharias nodded their heads in agreement so Hermione quickly made her way to where Malfoy was talking with several of the older Slytherins. "What are you doing here Malfoy?" she asked.

"I'm catching up with my friends, Granger, what do you think?" he replied sarcastically. "I could hardly wait around in this place on my own could I?"

"So how did you know where to find us?" Hermione demanded. "There wasn't anybody around to tell you."

"My friends left me a note telling me what you planned," Malfoy responded coolly. "Hardly responsible of you Granger, changing Dumbledore's plan like that, especially given the panic I've been told you caused."

"The panic was my fault was it Malfoy?" Hermione said acidly. "It had nothing whatsoever to do with the way your _friends_," she spat the word sarcastically, "have deliberately delaying us? Or your _friends_ the Death Eaters who want to kill all of us who don't agree with Voldemort's plans?" There was a predictable reaction from the Slytherins listening to the conversation at the mention of the name.

"My friends the Death Eaters?" Malfoy said with obviously false shock. "Why would I be a friend of such people?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong Malfoy, but isn't your father a Death Eater?" Hermione continued. "And didn't you say earlier today that it was about time Voldemort attacked the school?"

"You're taking my words out of context Granger," Malfoy said smoothly, still acting wounded by the allegations. "I don't want the Dark Lord to win this battle. And neither my mother nor I have spoken to my father in over a year, so he doesn't really enter into this now does he?"

"So you didn't leave the Great Hall, a serious dereliction of your duty as a prefect I might add," Hermione said short temperedly, "to lead the Death Eaters straight to the place where the vast majority of the students were gathered?"

"Of course I didn't, Granger," Malfoy replied, completely unruffled. "I was taking a nice gentle walk around the school."

"Well then, Malfoy," Hermione said sweetly, "since you've caught up with us why don't we get moving again. We need to if we're going to reach the Hufflepuff common room ahead of the Death Eaters."

"I don't think so, Mudblood," Malfoy said, his voice full of barely concealed venom. "I'm not sure I believe in these Death Eaters of yours. Has anybody seen them?" he asked his housemates. Their response was a rumbled negative. "Perhaps, Granger, this is all some ploy of yours."

"What are you talking about Malfoy?" Hermione asked, genuinely baffled.

"You aren't exactly fond of Slytherins Granger," Malfoy drawled silkily. "You've had lots of altercations with us. Why, just for starters you've assaulted me, been in fights with Bulstrode on more than one occasion and had multiple loud disagreements with Pansy. You've probably set us all up, with Dumbledore's approval. He's never liked us either, just look at all the ways he's given Gryffindor the House Cup since Potter got here. I bet you and your little army are planning to deal with Slytherin house once and for all."

Hermione stared at Malfoy in shock, her mouth hanging open and her eyes as wide as Luna Lovegood's. "Have you lost your mind Malfoy?" she asked him incredulously. "You think this is some plot to get rid of Slytherin? That's so crazy it wouldn't even get into the Quibbler."

"You should know Granger," Malfoy said grinning wickedly, "Since you spend so much time hanging around with Loony Lovegood."

"Malfoy, that's completely irrelevant," Hermione said wearily. "I would not want to destroy Slytherin, and even if I did I wouldn't try doing it now, while, if you remember, Lord Voldemort is attacking the school, nor would I have such an insanely convoluted plan."

"Now Granger," Pansy Parkinson put in, "I think Draco's got a point. You aren't exactly fond of Slytherin and you have plotted against us in the past. Why, you've hexed Slytherins many times, and just two years ago your plots cost Gryffindor hundreds of points …"

"Only because you took them," Lilith Moon, a Gryffindor and one of the NEWT Defence Against the Dark Arts students, said furiously.

"And," Pansy continued, completely ignoring the interruption, "I've even heard rumours that you smuggled yourself and your friends into our common room, probably as part of a plot against us."

"Parkinson, I can assure you that there is no plot," Ernie said supporting Hermione. "Now, we really do need to be moving again if the Death Eaters aren't going to catch us."

"Why should we believe you?" Theodore Nott asked, although Hermione had noticed him surreptitiously rolling his eyes and sighing in disbelief when Malfoy put forward the idea of a plot. "If there is a plot, you'd be in on it too, especially if Dumbledore approves. If Draco's right, we'd be safer here than if we follow you."

"Nott," Hermione said impatiently, "surely you're too intelligent to believe in this so called plot. I think you're all just stalling for time, hoping that the Death Eaters will catch us."

"Maybe you're right Granger," Malfoy said with a smug grin on his face. "But even if you are what are you going to do about it?"

"Malfoy," Hermione said snappishly, "we really don't have time for this. Now, if you and your friends want to stay here then you are welcome to do so, but we are going and we will take the Slytherins who want to come with us."

"Do you really think we're going to let you lead our housemates into a trap?" Malfoy said, Crabbe and Goyle deliberately looming menacingly on either side of him.

"We are leaving now," Hermione said in a dangerous tone of voice. "Don't try and stop us. I suggest," she continued, her voice louder and more even easily carrying to the other Slytherins, "that those of you who believe in the Death Eaters come with us."

Hermione tried to move away from Malfoy and his group in order to lead the way to the Hufflepuff common room, but Pansy deliberately blocked her path. "You are not going to take a single Slytherin with you Granger," she said.

"We are leaving Parkinson," Hermione said flintily. "Get out of my way or face the consequences."

"I'm not moving Granger," Pansy said, a stupid grin on her face.

Hermione reached for her wand, prepared to force Pansy to get out of her way, but before she could do anything Pansy was unceremoniously shoved aside by a larger girl. "Get out of her way Pansy," Millicent Bulstrode said, her irritation clear in her voice. "If you really believe that nonsensical idea Draco put forth you're stupider than I thought."

"What are you doing, Bulstrode?" Malfoy asked her aggressively. "Now is not the time to oppose us."

"Draco," Millicent sneered, "now is exactly the time to be against you. Granger wouldn't come up with such an insane plot, especially not when You-Know-Who is attacking the school, nor would she tell us there are Death Eaters chasing us if there weren't. She's not the type to make such a stupid joke as you should know."

"Of course she would," Malfoy responded hotly. "Don't you remember that so called 'hippogriff' outside our common room? I'm certain that was Granger's work. Who else is there that could or would do that?"

"Anybody from an innumerable number of people, as I told you at the time. And our head of house agreed with me if you remember," Millicent said sarcastically. "Now, you might want to stay here and face the Death Eaters, but I'd rather take my chances with Granger's lot. And do you two really want to try stopping me?" her last words being addressed to Crabbe and Goyle who had moved to block the route to the common room. Before they could respond, however, there was a noise behind them, the noise of curses being exchanged. "Death Eaters!" Ron cried.

"Well Malfoy," Hermione said, "that settles it, doesn't it. Ernie, lead on. Malfoy, you and your friends can stay here if they want, but the rest of us are leaving along with any Slytherins that want to come with us." Hermione turned to join the battle at the rear of the students, several of the NEWT Defence students going with her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Slytherins having resumed the race to the common room and that Malfoy and his cohorts were hanging back slightly from the rest of their house. She was surprised when she heard Millicent's voice. "I'm coming with you, Granger," the big Slytherin said.

"Why?" Hermione asked, stopping to stare at Millicent in shock.

"I'll feel safer facing Death Eaters than having Draco Malfoy at my back," Millicent said firmly. "He'll want to get me for crossing him so openly and I doubt most of my housemates would do much to help me when he attacked me."

"All right Bulstrode, you can stay with us. But if you try anything …" Hermione said the outcome obvious in her tone of voice. The two of them swiftly moved to where the fight was taking place. When they arrived, Ron greeted them with a warning. "Watch your feet," he said. "There are Disillusioned snakes around. They got in amongst us before we knew they were there. They've already got two of us." Ron gestured towards two students writhing as a result of the serpents' venom. The trio were then forced to take evasive action to avoid an _Avada Kedavra_ that one of the Death Eaters had sent towards them. Curses flew everywhere about them, ricocheting off the walls and portraits. One student went down, hit by the green killing curse while another was bent double by the same purple flame spell that had injured Hermione in the Department of Mysteries two years previously. Despite these losses and the distraction of the snakes, however, the students had the upper hand. One Death Eater went down, struck by one of Padma's stunners. Another soon followed, petrified by one of the NEWT students while another was temporarily halted by the Impediment jinx.

Ron soon noticed something was odd. "There's only four of them!" he shouted to Hermione before he was drowned out by the noise of one of their fellows being tortured by Rabastan Lestrange.

"What?" Hermione said in surprise. "There can't be only four of them."

"He's right, Granger," Millicent said. "There are only four Death Eaters. Didn't you ever learn to count?" she continued sarcastically.

"How can there be only four?" Hermione asked, confusion evident in her voice. "There were more than that on the map and in the Great Hall when I left."

"I don't know, Hermione," Ron said, "but there are only four here now."

"Is this really the time to discuss this?" Millicent said, pausing briefly to blast a snake with the stunning spell. "Surely we can sort this out after we deal with these Death Eaters."

"Much as I hate to admit it, she's right," Hermione said. "_Petrificus Totalus_!" she cried, the Death Eater who had been immobilised falling stiffly to the floor. Rabastan, seeing that he was heavily outnumbered by the students, ordered the only Death Eater still standing to retreat. The two of them fled, leaving their colleagues behind them. The students then swiftly dealt with the remaining snakes, but unfortunately not before another two of their number had been bitten. "Damn," Hermione said looking at the four students who had been incapacitated by the venomous serpents. "We need to get them to the infirmary. Lilith, Lisa, Stephen and Sally-Anne," she continued, indicating four of the NEWT students in turn while Ron and Zacharias set about conjuring stretchers for the injured pupils, "take them there as quickly as you can and stay there. Make sure the infirmary stays safe. Bulstrode …"

"I'm not going with them, Granger," Millicent said belligerently. "I'm not going to take the risk of carrying four people who are likely to die anyway through a load of Death Eaters who want to kill me. You may be crazy enough to try it and those four may be daft enough to listen to you, but I'm not."

"It's just as well that I'm not going to ask you to then, isn't it?" Hermione responded tartly. "I want you to stay with me. And they are not going to die Bulstrode, not if they can be got to Madam Pomfrey in time. The four of you need to get a move on. There's not a moment to spare." The four students nodded then set off in the direction of the hospital wing, the stretchers following behind them as quickly as they safely could.

"What now, Granger?" Millicent asked.

"Now we work out why there were so few Death Eaters chasing us. Zacharias, bring the map here." Zacharias obeyed her instructions, spreading the map out on the floor between the four seventh years.

"What's that?" Millicent asked curiously.

"None of your business," Ron said aggressively at the same time as Hermione replied "It's a map of the school. It shows where everybody is and names them. It can't be fooled. Here's us," she continued indicating a location on the map, "and here are the Slytherins moving towards the Hufflepuff common room."

"And here," Ron said urgently, pointing towards a spot not too far from the entrance to the common room, "are the missing Death Eaters."

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, swiftly looking where Ron indicated. "How can they be there?"

"It's got to be a trap, Granger," Millicent said quietly. "That lot," she continued, pointing behind her in the direction the Death Eaters had fled "must have been sent as a distraction and if they could get any of us that would be a bonus."

"I think she's right Hermione," Ron put in. "And if you look, that's the direction Malfoy came from too. He must be hoping to lead us all straight to Dolohov."

"Ernie's going to let the Slytherins in to the common room," Zacharias said, his face very pale. "Then the Death Eaters will strike and kill everyone who is not loyal to You-Know-Who."

"I wouldn't have thought even Malfoy could let that happen," Hermione said appalled at the idea. "We can't let it happen."

"What can we do, Granger?" Millicent asked, her face showing an unusual degree of concern for the welfare of others. "We are too far away to get there in time. Even if we ran at full speed we couldn't get there before the Death Eaters made their move." A quick glance at the map showed that she was right, the Death Eaters being closer to the Hufflepuff common room and the Slytherins than they were.

"I'm not sure," Hermione replied worriedly, "but we can't let Dolohov kill the students."

"Hold on a minute," Ron suddenly exclaimed, "I think I've got an idea. We can't get to the Hufflepuff common room in time, but we're reasonably close to the kitchens. We might be able to get there before Dolohov makes his move."

"And what good will that do?" Millicent demanded. "We can't do much to help from the kitchens can we?"

"Perhaps we can't," Ron answered, "but we wouldn't have to. In the kitchens there are …"

"House-elves!" Hermione interrupted him excitedly. "That's brilliant Ron, and it might well work. Zacharias, do you want to be with your sister?" After seeing him nod, Hermione continued, "Then you should go there now. Take the NEWT students with you, but don't get yourselves killed if you can avoid it. Bulstrode, go with them."

"All right Hemione," Zacharias said, his relief that he wouldn't have to abandon his sister obvious. "And thank you." He rushed off towards his common room as fast as he possibly could, the NEWT students following in his wake. Millicent, however, remained standing where she was

"I told you earlier that I'm not going to leave your side Granger," she said when Hermione looked questioningly at her. "I'm not sure what you've got planned, but I doubt it will work. Whether it does or not, though, I'm sure I'll be safer with you than anywhere else."

"If you insist," Hermione said. "We don't have time to argue. Come on, we need to get to the kitchens." The three students began to run, racing against time to reach the kitchens before the Death Eaters launched their attack on the students hiding in the Hufflepuff common room. It didn't take the trio long to reach their destination. Ron and Hermione were surprised by what they saw when they arrived. The kitchens were in a much greater state of disarray than either of them had ever seen before, with no signs of food preparation whatsoever. Instead pots and pans were strewn all over the place, as were plates and knives. The house-elves appeared their usual selves, though they were noticeably less eager to please than was usually the case, hardly even noticing their visitors.

Millicent, who was staring around the kitchens with a mixture if shock, awe and disgust, asked "Are they usually like this? If they are, it's a wonder nobody gets poisoned."

"Of course they're not," Hermione replied testily. "The elves would never allow anybody to be poisoned, even when they should. They …"

"Don't get Hermione started on elves," Ron said, interrupting his friend. "If you let her, she'll tell you all about how they're mistreated by wizards."

"Well they are Ron," Hermione said argumentatively. "You know that."

"Maybe so," Ron said, "but now is hardly the time to discuss SPEW is it?"

"I suppose you're right," Hermione said, the fact that she didn't correct Ron clearly showing her agreement about the urgency of the situation.

The discussion between the three seventh years had drawn the attention of the elves towards their guests. Unsurprisingly, it was Dobby who moved to talk to them. "Mr Wheezy, sir, and Miss Hermione, what are you doing here? This is not the time to be paying Dobby a visit, flattered though Dobby is. He Who Must Not Be Named is here, sir and miss, and the house-elves have to help Professor Dumbledore. You should go back to the Great Hall, sir and miss. And who is this with you?" he asked, adding his last question when he caught sight of Millicent who had been ineffectually trying to hide behind Hermione.

"This is Millicent Bulstrode," Hermione said impatiently. "And we're well aware that Voldemort is here." Dobby reacted to the mention of the dreaded name, though much less so than he once would have. "Several Death Eaters have got inside the school," she continued, "and are soon going to be attacking the students in the Hufflepuff common room. We can't get there in time to do anything, but because you house-elves can Apparate inside the school you can. Harry told us how you protected him from Lucius Malfoy after he freed you. Will the Hogwarts' elves help protect the students?"

"It is the purpose of our lives, miss, to serve the school," Dobby replied very seriously. "We are honour bound to protect the students. It is one of the only demands Professor Dumbledore makes when he lets us work here. Dobby knows that the house-elves will help you, miss. Dobby will go and fetch them now." As soon as he finished speaking, the diminutive elf had vanished with a sharp crack. A short while later there were several cracks as the other house-elves in the kitchen Disapparated and another crack as Dobby reappeared. "The house-elves has gone to the common room, miss," he said. "They is going to protect the students. Dobby must go and join them now, miss." Dobby once again Disapparated, but not before Hermione gave him a big kiss in thanks for his and the other elves' help.

"I'd heard you were an elf lover, Granger," Millicent said wickedly after Dobby was gone, "but I never thought they meant it that way."

"What now, Hermione?" Ron asked, the two of them completely ignoring Millicent's comment, much to her consternation.

"We should go to the Hufflepuff common room," Hermione said gravely. "Our assistance might be required there, and even if it's not we should be there. Are you coming with us Bulstrode," Hermione asked sweetly over her shoulder as the two Gryffindors turned to leave the kitchens, "Or would you prefer to stay here?" Millicent, scowling fiercely, followed in their wake.


	21. The First Reinforcements

Outside of the castle, the battles between the Death Eaters and their opponents continued to rage fiercely. Every few minutes the sound of an explosion could be heard, or the sound of a toppling giant. The sounds were getting increasingly less frequent, however, as the teachers, Aurors, DA members and members of the Order of the Phoenix slowly retreated into the castle. Everywhere the sheer numbers of their opponents were forcing them back, especially where the Death Eaters were led by the cunning Lucius Malfoy and the shrewd if more than slightly insane Bellatrix Lestrange. At Voldemort's orders, the two of them had taken command of the assault and, although they had lost several Death Eaters, giants, snakes and many of Voldemort's lesser servants, they had killed several of their foes in exchange while the rest were forced to withdraw. The only exceptions to this pattern were the Forbidden Forest where the forest's denizens were holding at bay the giants and the few Death Eaters who had followed Gurg Golgomath and the lake where the merpeople were still viciously resisting the few giants and Death Eaters who continued to oppose them. In the midst of this, the lake began to bubble followed by a whirlpool from which the Durmstrang ship slowly emerged.

"Ve must attack the forces of You-Know-Who," Viktor Krum told those who had accompanied him and Charlie Weasley onto the ship's deck as soon as the ship surfaced. Krum was carrying his Firebolt in one hand and gesticulated wildly with the other as he spoke. "Poliakoff," he continued, talking to a shorter, stouter man standing slightly behind him and Charlie, "take tvelve others and help the merpeople fight against the Death Eaters beneath us. The ten best fliers vill accompany me vile ve attack our foes from the air and the rest shall follow Charles into the forest." As soon as he finished speaking, Krum leapt into the air followed by ten others. Poliakoff dove over the side of the ship into the water, performing a Bubble-Head Charm as he did so while a dozen others followed him, some performing the same charm, others transfiguring themselves while one changed herself into a large bright yellow frog before jumping into the lake.

"You should probably take the ship and go back to Durmstrang," Charlie said to the wizard he and Krum had agreed would stay on the ship. "If we lose, we don't want You-Know-Who to get his hands on her. She'd make it too easy for him to attack other places. If we lose, stay at Durmstrang and do what you can to keep resistance going." The new captain of the ship nodded silently then went below deck to make preparations for his departure. "Well then," Charlie said after he was gone. "Let's get a move on. Dumbledore wants us to find Hagrid as quickly as we can." He disembarked the ship at a run, the remaining half-dozen witches and wizards racing along to try and keep up with him. It didn't take them long to reach the forest, although on two occasions they found themselves attacked by snakes and a few isolated giants. Charlie found them fairly easy to deal with after several years dealing with dragons. They also rescued two Aurors who had remained behind while others retreated into the castle.

Upon reaching the forest, Charlie found it exactly the same as he had the last time he had entered it; a dark, forbidding place in which echoes could be heard mixed with the noises of the numerous creatures that lived inside it. "Split up," Charlie told his companions. "We need to find Hagrid then get to the castle as soon as possible." Half of the Durmstrang graduates headed deeper into the forest, calling out Hagrid's name as they went. "If you find Hagrid or if you need us send sparks into the sky," Charlie called after them. "All right," Charlie said once the other group was out of sight, "we'll go this way. Hagrid!" he called out, moving towards the sounds of battle that could be heard dimly in the forest's interior.

Charlie's group continued moving deeper into the forest, shouting Hagrid's name every few minutes attempting to find the half-giant. Unfortunately, however, their shouts didn't attract Hagrid. Instead they drew four of his larger cousins, drenched in blood from the battle raging deeper in the forest. The giants apparently didn't want to wait to see who the new arrivals were. Instead they raced to attack, their massive weapons raised high above their heads. One of the Durmstrang wizards, a dark haired young man with a foul temper whose name Charlie had never learnt, was caught by surprise despite the size of the giants and was chopped in half by a sword stroke from the lead giant then trampled flat as the following giants ran over him. Charlie and the others dived out of the giants' way as best they could then begin to send spells in the direction of the giants. The simple stunning spells they used initially, however, had no noticeable effect on the magically resistant giants. They tried again, this time using more destructive spells with one of the former Durmstrang students using a spell that he had learnt while studying the Dark Arts. One of the giants went down, clutching his eye as blood poured forth from a massive wound opened just above it while the Leg-Locker curse Charlie and the two nearest wizards had used on it caused it to fall flat on its face.

Just after the ground shook following the giant's fall, the reason the giants were running so fast away from the battle became very apparent. A loud clicking could be heard over the sounds of the numerous spells being cast. Following the clicking, several dark shapes began to emerge into Charlie's field of vision. The shapes swiftly became clear – dozens of eight-legged, eight-eyed creatures with large mouths. "Acromantulas!" Charlie heard one of his companions scream in panic. Most of the giant spiders pursued the giants who had continued to run, while several of the others fell upon the fallen giant and ravenously began to feed upon him. The giant's screams of agony echoed eerily through the forest. Ten or so of the spiders, however, ignored the giants and moved towards Charlie and his companions, either not knowing or not caring that they were on the same side. "Run!" Charlie yelled, hoping that they would all be able to escape from the spiders and that none of them would suffer the same fate as the rapidly dying giant.

The wizards moved away from the pursuing spiders as quickly as they could. The acromantulas, however, scuttled along after them quicker than the humans could run. One of the wizards turned in panic and sent the killing curse at the spiders. One spider died, but it was soon avenged as the wizard was pounced upon and had his head bitten off by one of the others which settled down to enjoy its meal. The remaining spiders continued to chase the fleeing wizards. Amidst the chaos, Charlie heard a sound that made him think he was imagining things; the sound of a car engine. To his surprise, they burst into a clearing in the forest. Inside the clearing were several skittish unicorns and a battered blue car. The unicorns briefly raised their heads to look in the direction they had come from, then ran away from the wizards. "Charles, look," one of the Durmstrang wizards called out, indicating the way they had come from. Charlie turned around was astonished to see the acromantulas being reluctant to follow. After apparently having a brief conversation, the spiders turned, leaving the prey they had pursued so tenaciously alone. "Vy are they leaving?" the wizard asked?

Charlie thought for a moment, searching his memory for what Ron had told him about his and Harry's encounter with the giant spiders in their second year. After a while, he replied, "I'm not entirely sure, but I think it might have something to do with the car." Charlie gestured towards the placid car, now examining the other wizards with apparent interest, though apparently it was quite reluctant to get too close to them as it always kept a respectable distance away. "I think," Charlie continued, "that the spiders might have encountered it before and come off second best so these young ones were reluctant to approach it."

"I don't really care if that is the case," one of the witches who had accompanied Charlie said. "I'm just glad that they haff left. I vould not haff vanted to become spider food."

"I think we can all agree with that, Ludmilla," Charlie agreed. "Now, we really should get back to trying to find Hagrid." Charlie left the clearing, giving the car an affectionate pat before he did so, with the rest of the group following. After another fruitless ten minutes of searching, Charlie's attention was drawn to the sky when one of his companions said, "Look, sparks," and pointed upwards. Sure enough, hanging in the sky were a group of orange sparks that had been formed into a giant arrow. "Looks like our companions have found Hagrid," Charlie said, a smile on his face for the first time since he had received Dumbledore's letter. "Let's go see them."

Charlie set off towards the area the sparks had come from, the Durmstrang graduates following him. Just before the reached the sparks, a massive humanoid shape appeared looming out of the forest wit a massive club in one hand and a crossbow in the other. The crossbow appeared small in the giant's fist, but it was far too big for any human to use. The group prepared to do battle with another giant, but they were surprised when they heard the giant boom out "Why you here?" Charlie took another look at the giant and saw that he was a fair bit smaller than the other giants they had seen. "Put your wands away," Charlie said quietly to his companions. "I think that's Hagrid's little brother." Amidst some grumbling, the others obeyed his instructions. The giant, apparently not having heard what Charlie said, repeated its question, this time more loudly. "Why you here?" it said, the sound of its voice reverberating through the trees.

"We're looking for Hagrid," Charlie replied loudly to make sure the giant heard him. "Do you know where he is?"

"Why you want Hagger?" the giant demanded suspiciously. "If you want hurt Hagger Grawp hurt you."

"Don't worry, Grawp," Charlie said, trying to placate the clearly agitated giant who was shifting his feet repeatedly, churning up large mounds of earth in the process and hefting his weapons dangerously. "We just want to talk to him. Dumbledore sent us."

"You fight for Dumb-door?" Grawp said, evidently still quite suspicious. "You not Death Eaters?" The wizards vehemently shook their heads. "Okay. Grawp take you to Hagger. But if you try hurt him you regret it." Grawp turned around and quickly strode towards the sparks, the much smaller wizards racing to keep up with him. Grawp didn't go around any obstacles in his path. Instead he uprooted trees and kicked large rocks out of his way as if they were pebbles. The wizards therefore made better time than they would have without the humanoid bulldozer. They soon reached a clearing that seemed to have been made by Grawp as felled trees were strewn across the landscape. On the outskirts of the clearing, a centaur could be seen treating the wounds of a giant while another centaur waited patiently for its own injuries to be dealt with. In the middle of the clearing, talking to Firenze while two giants and the other former Durmstrang students looked on was Hagrid. "We continue to fight, Hagrid," Firenze said. "Many giants and Death Eaters have felt the sting of centaur arrows. I fear it will not be enough though. For every strike we make against our foes we pay in our blood. Over a dozen of us have fallen to the giants, some of which I fear have been eaten afterwards, while the wizards have also managed to harm us. And the forest itself is paying an even worse price. I fear it will be many years before it can recover."

"Sorry 'bout that Firenze," Hagrid responded, his face gloomy. "We need ta fight though. If we don't You-Know-Who will make the world not worth living in."

"Indeed, Hagrid," Firenze said, his head deeply inclined in agreement. "If only more of my brethren could have been persuaded of that. Those I persuaded will fight until we are victorious or dead. Our foes will not leave the forest while one of us lives. Have no fear of that. I hope we shall meet again." Firenze turned and walked away, pausing only briefly to acknowledge Charlie, then he galloped into the forest.

"Now then Charlie," Hagrid said, turning to tower over the younger man, "what are yeh doin' here?"

"Looking for you, Hagrid," Charlie replied, giving him the letter Dumbledore had sent with Fawkes. "Dumbledore wants me to take you to the castle."

Hagrid quickly read threw the letter, then read it again before responding. "I can't leave the forest now Charlie," he said when he had finished. "We're fightin' hard here, and if we leave the Death Eaters will be able ta get inta the school."

"Dumbledore only wants you at the minute," Charlie said, trying to persuade Hagrid to return to the school with him. "The battle can continue without you."

Hagrid paused for a moment to consider what Charlie said. He turned to look up at his brother and asked "What do yeh think o' this Grawpy?"

"Hagger should go," Grawp replied. "We fight here. Dumb-door needs Hagger more than we do. We fight until all dead or victorious."

Hagrid listened to his brother, though he was still visibly reluctant to leave, but he acquiesced. "All righ' Grawpy, I'll go where Dumbledore wants me ta be. You're in charge 'ere. Try not ta let Aragog and his lot eat too many people. Let's get a move on then Charlie." Charlie nodded then began to lead the former Durmstrang students in the direction of castle. Hagrid gave Grawp a hug which the larger giant awkwardly returned, taking care not to crush his smaller brother. Soon afterwards, Hagrid strode away from Grawp, his long legs easily allowing him to catch up with the smaller wizards. Grawp's eyes followed him, a fond look visible on his misshapen face, then turned away and led the two giants who had stood quietly in the clearing to serve as Hagrid's guards and messengers deeper into the forest and towards the continuing battle.


	22. A Visit to the Pub

Harry woke up earlier in the morning than he was used to. Oddly, given the events of the previous night and the early morning, he had had a very good nights' sleep. He felt refreshed and ready for whatever the day would bring. Harry dressed swiftly and went down to eat breakfast. When he got there, he was surprised to see that along with Lupin, Fred and George were Luna and her father. Lupin paused from cooking breakfast to bid Harry a good morning, then he resumed cooking the sausages, bacon and eggs. "Good morning Harry," Luna said brightly when she saw him. "How was your night?"

"Fine thanks, Luna," Harry replied. "I slept better than I have done in ages, actually. What are you doing here?"

"We're a bit low on food at home, I'm afraid," Luna responded, smiling dreamily. "Daddy's given most of it to the werewolves. Professor Lupin was kind enough to suggest that we eat here with you."

"We thought it would be a good idea too," George put in. "The more people we have here the better, since that will mean we can get to Hogwarts faster when we're needed."

"And on top of that," Fred said, a massive grin on his face, "we can have more fun if Luna and her dad are here. They just love our little tricks." Fred proceeded to demonstrate his point, putting on a Headless Hat, his head completely disappearing, then an eerie howling noise came from his direction. Luna smiled delightedly while her father applauded, a huge smile on his face. "See what I mean, Harry?" Fred continued, his grin wider than it was before as he removed his hat. "That was our new two-in-one Headless Howler. We're working on making them work like actual Howlers when the customer demands, but we haven't quite figured out how yet."

"That sounded exactly like the Ghoulish Gremlin of Gibraltar," Mr Lovegood said, his smile still firmly in place. "Could you let me have one of those? It might help me get closer to the Gremlin when I go to Gibraltar next month."

"Of course," Fred replied, bowing deeply in Mr Lovegood's direction. "We've got several prototypes of the Headless Howler and would be happy to give you one. Anything to advance the Quibbler's search for unusual species." Harry raised an eyebrow at Fred's slightly mocking comment and gave him a slightly amused look. Mr Lovegood was apparently delighted at Fred's response and either didn't know or didn't care that Fred was joking with him. Fred was apparently fond of Mr Lovegood though, as it was the sort of gentle teasing he and George tended to use on friends and relatives.

"Breakfast's ready," Lupin cut in, moving over to the dining table with several plates piled high with food, one of which had noticeably more sausages and rashers of bacon than the others and correspondingly less scrambled egg. "There's toast already on the table along with jam and marmalade for those who want them." Lupin set the plates down in front of each person. Fred and George, showing perhaps where Ron got his attitude to food from, attacked their breakfast with relish. They had soon eaten all of the food on their plates in addition to several pieces of toast piled high with butter and jam. Harry and Mr Lovegood ate more sparingly, taking longer to eat all their breakfast. Luna took the longest of all, leisurely taking a bite at a time, oddly dipping each piece in one of the mounds of jam or marmalade that she had piled up on either side of her plate. Lupin unusually ate ravenously; devouring the vast amounts of meat he had piled on his plate while being much more sparing with his scrambled egg.

"Why did you have so much meat, Professor Lupin?" Luna asked when they had all finished.

"It's because of the time of the month," Lupin replied sadly. "You see, when the full moon is near werewolves need to eat a lot more meat than they normally would. Nobody is quite sure why, but it seems to be true of every werewolf that has ever existed."

"How fascinating," Mr Lovegood said, an intrigued look on his face. "Would you mind if that went into next months Quibbler? I'm sure our readers would be fascinated by the life of a werewolf."

"Not at all. The more people that understand my condition the better," Lupin replied. "I wish more people would read about it. Perhaps if they understood werewolves better we would be less feared by others, even if we must always fear ourselves. I suppose it was that hope that made my parents write a book about a young werewolf's life, though it had less of an effect than I think they hoped it might."

"Your parents wrote a book Professor?" Luna said, surprise showing in her wide silvery eyes. "I didn't know that. I've looked in the library to see what books our teachers have written, but there was nothing written by anybody named Lupin. Professor Snape's book was quite interesting though."

"I'm not surprised you looked, Luna," Lupin responded, a sad smile on his face. "You wouldn't have found it though. My parents wrote it anonymously, you see. They didn't want anybody to find out I was a werewolf. It's called Hairy Snout, Human Heart."

"Hairy Snout, Human Heart?" George repeated incredulously. "That's about you?" After Lupin's nod of confirmation he continued, "It's a classic! That's the most famous book about a werewolf ever written."

"Yes, but I'm afraid relatively few wizards and witches have read it," Lupin said dispiritedly. "Most of them simply assume werewolves aren't safe. Even Molly does that some of the time. And when did you read that book?" Lupin continued, a smile returning to his face and a hint of mischief entering his voice. "I remember that I had great difficulty getting the two of you to read anything. How you managed to get an OWL in Defence Against the Dark Arts escapes me sometimes."

"It's quite simple," Fred said, his face completely straight. "We read it after we nicked it from Percy." Everybody laughed at the thought of the twins reading a book they 'borrowed' from their elder brother.

Luna recovered from her laughter much quicker than she sometimes did and said, "That wasn't very nice you know. I hope you gave your brother his book back."

"We did, Luna," George reassured her. "Percy got his book back."

"Eventually," Fred said under his breath to Harry who struggled to contain his laughter. Luna had apparently not heard Fred's comment and simply said, "Good. If you take people's things it's only polite to return them." Fred and George gave her a slightly odd look then shrugged their shoulders, obviously not understanding what she meant. Harry understood exactly why Luna felt that way; since people often took her possessions and hid them from her she felt quite sorry for those in a similar position and felt that those who do 'borrow' things without their owner's permission should return them sooner or later.

A few hours later, while tidying up the Burrow, which Mrs Weasley had apparently left in a hurry, Harry felt a sharp pain in his head, coming from his scar. Fred and George, who were with him at the time asked him what was happening. "It's Voldemort. He's very happy," Harry said

"Do you know why he's happy?" asked Luna who was also with them.

"No, but I can only think of one reason why he would be so happy, especially since he was angry earlier" Harry replied.

"He must have started the attack on Hogwarts," Fred said, voicing Harry's thoughts. "And he must think it's going well. We'd better go and see Remus."

The young quartet rushed down the stairs as fast as they could, calling out Lupin's name. They reached the bottom of the stairs with no response from their old teacher, so they split up to search for him. Suddenly, Lupin's voice could be heard clearly from outside the house. "I'm out here," he said very quietly. Fred, George Harry and Luna rejoined one another and went out to where Lupin stood, a worried look on his face. Mr Lovegood stood a short distance away from him, the smile Harry had seen on his face throughout most of their short acquaintance completely absent.

"What's wrong, Remus?" Fred asked, his usual cheerfulness noticeably absent.

"Fawkes came to me with a letter from Dumbledore," Lupin replied grimly. "Voldemort's attack on Hogwarts is under way."

"We thought it must be," Harry said, his heart heavy with worry about what was happening at the school. "What did the letter say?" he asked.

"Have a look for yourself," Lupin said, handing Harry a roll of parchment. "Sisyphus," he continued, "could you go home and fetch your guests please? I need them here as soon as possible."

"Of course," Mr Lovegood replied. "Glad I can help." As soon as he finished speaking, Mr Lovegood Apparated away, the crack of his departure clearly audible. Lupin turned to talk to the twins, though Harry didn't pay too much attention to what they were saying. Instead he was too focused on Dumbledore's letter. The letter said:

_Remus,_

_I am sorrier than I can say that I must inform you of the success of Lord Voldemort's initial attack. His servants have managed to gain access to the school grounds despite our best efforts, though the charms around the school have at least permitted me to exclude the Dementors while I am still Headmaster. We are still fighting hard, but I fear we will not be able to prevent our enemies entering the castle, even with the help of the wizards 3-23 is bringing from DM. Indeed, it seems some have managed to get inside already._

_Please bring everybody who is with you to A Goat at HH, HM. There I hope to be able to meet with you and give you all further instructions. If I cannot, proceed as we have previously discussed._

_I hope to see you soon,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Harry red the letter through twice before looking back to Lupin. When he did so, he noticed Fred and George had left. Only he, Luna and Lupin were still standing just outside the Burrow. "What does it mean?" he asked Lupin, shaking the letter to make sure he was clearly understood.

"Most of it should be quite clear, Harry," Lupin said, smiling ruefully. "Voldemort's attack has been more successful than we might have hoped. The parts you might not fully understand are due to Dumbledore writing in code. Even though Voldemort should not be able to intercept Fawkes, we can't take the chance that he might have discovered a way and might thereby learn our plans."

"So what does the code mean?" Harry asked again.

"It's quite simple, really. 3-23 is Charlie Weasley. It's his initials converted to numbers, see." Harry nodded to show that he understood that part, so Lupin continued. "DM is where he has gone to get support from – Durmstrang. The rest of the letter tells me where Dumbledore wants me to take us. We are going to pay a visit to his brother."

"How are we going to get to get there, Professor Lupin?" Luna enquired, her tone of voice unusually serious. "It would take too long to fly there and I doubt everyone is able to Apparate."

"You're right, Luna," Lupin said, sounding like he did when one of his pupils answered a question correctly. "Not all of us will be able to Apparate, so we are going to use these." Lupin reached into his patched old robes and pulled out several smallish round discs.

"What are they?" Harry asked.

"They are going to be Portkeys," Lupin replied. "I can set them up to return to their starting location after a short duration, in this case 2 minutes."

"Like the Portkeys at the Quidditch World Cup," Luna said happily.

"Exactly like those Portkeys," Lupin agreed. "This will let us move everyone to our destination quickly and quietly. Both speed and silence should work to our advantage. Now then, I'll set up the first three so we can get where we are going and check that it's completely safe. Once I'm sure it is, I'll come back here and oversee the movement of the others. Take hold of these," he said, giving Harry and Luna one disc apiece and pulling out his wand. He tapped his wand to the discs, saying "Portus" as he did so, then he repeated the process with a third disc that he picked up himself. A few seconds after he finished the spell, Harry felt the familiar sensation of being transported by a Portkey. Soon afterwards, he found himself in a cool, dark place with several barrels surrounding him. The place smelt more than a little of goats. A fraction of a second later he noticed that Luna and Lupin were with him. Harry also noticed that Luna had a slightly sickly look on her face due, he assumed, to the way they had arrived. Harry guessed Luna was less than fond of travelling by Portkey.

"Where are we?" Harry asked once he had fully gathered his bearings.

"Exactly where we intended to be," Lupin replied. "The basement of the Hog's Head, the owner of which is Aberforth Dumbledore."

"Who's there?" a slightly gruff voice demanded from above them, cutting short any response Harry might have made.

"It's us, Aberforth," Lupin responded calmly. "Your brother wanted us to come here."

"So Voldemort's made his move at last then," Aberforth said calmly. "You'd better come upstairs then. The cellar will get a bit crowded when the others start arriving."

Luna and Harry went up the stairs and through the door Aberforth had opened. Lupin stayed behind. "I should go back to the Burrow and get the other Portkeys ready. I'll be back as soon as everybody else gets here," he said. "Leave your Portkeys down here. They'll start cycling back and forth soon." Harry and Luna did as Lupin suggested, placing the discs he had given them on the floor. A few seconds later, the discs vanished and so did Lupin.

It was half an hour later when Lupin returned. In the meantime, groups of 6 had repeatedly arrived in the Hog's Head's cellar. As soon as they made their way up the stairs into the bar, they were greeted by Aberforth who gave each person in turn a drink, more often than not Firewhisky, though the occasional bottle of Butterbeer or glass of Gillywater was served along with other less alcoholic substances. As they arrived, Harry kept a close watch on those who had answered the twins' call for assistance. As they had said, Lee Jordan was unsurprisingly prominent amongst the ranks of the former DA members, as were Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell. Harry could also see several people who had joined the DA once Umbridge was no longer a factor, including the Fawcett twins Lydia and Camilla; the former prefects Paul Underwood, Zara Young and Caitlin De'Ath; Philip Stebbins and Roger Davies, formerly of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and their counterparts from the Hufflepuff team, Chloe Carter and Christopher Long. There were also several people who Harry was sure had never joined the DA, including several Slytherins and Oliver Wood, who should really have been training with the Scotland Quidditch team for their upcoming match against Egypt. "This is more important than a Quidditch match," he said when he saw Harry's surprised look, answering the unspoken question as to why he was there. "If You-Know-Who wins there won't be much time for Quidditch, will there?" Harry nodded, very much in agreement with his old captain, though he never would have expected to hear such sentiments expressed by such a renowned Quidditch fanatic.

The last former members of the DA to arrive were unsurprisingly Fred and George, both of whom emerged from the cellar with huge grins on their faces. Their companions, however, were somewhat surprising to Harry. The twins were accompanied by only two other people. Harry was not too surprised to see that one of their companions was the beautiful Cho Chang, but he was utterly astonished when he saw the pockmarked face hidden as much as possible beneath curly reddish blonde hair. Harry had not seen that face in over a year, the person it belonged to having done her best to keep out of his way. "What's she doing here?" Harry demanded, furious that the person who had betrayed the DA to Umbridge had arrived.

"Marietta's here because I asked her to come," Cho said diffidently. Harry and Cho had spoken only infrequently since their relationship ended, both of them taking care not to set the other one off.

"Well that worked out so well the last time, didn't it?" Harry responded sarcastically. "It's not as if she got us all in trouble and got Dumbledore kicked out of his own school is it?" Marietta seemed to shrink into herself as Harry spoke, as if she didn't want to face him.

Cho also seemed unwilling to push Harry, so it was Fred who surprisingly spoke up in Marietta's defence. "Give her a chance, Harry," he said quietly, neither he nor his brother grinning any longer. "Cho did check with us and we spoke about it with Remus before Marietta ever came to join us."

"And you all thought it was a good idea?" Harry asked, his incredulity plain on his face.

"We need every ally we can get," George replied solemnly. "Marietta has said she's willing to fight against You-Know-Who and we believe her. Dumbledore's willing to trust Snape and Dung, both of whom have done worse than Marietta ever did. We're just following his example."

Harry calmed down a little while he listened to the twins' explanation, though he was still less than happy with Marietta's presence. "All right," he said finally, "she can stay. But I don't want to see her. You two," he continued, indicating the twins, "had better make sure we don't regret bringing her. Don't let her out of your sight." Harry turned away without another word and stalked off to the far side of the room, Luna following behind him.

"You were very rude to Marietta, you know," Luna said serenely once they had sat down.

"Luna, she betrayed us all. How do we know she won't decide that Voldemort's got the right idea and join him halfway through the fight?" Harry asked, his tone of voice indicating his annoyance at Luna's attitude. "We can't afford to have any traitors in our midst."

"We don't know that she won't," Luna replied, "but we don't know that of anybody else either. Marietta thought she was doing the right thing when she betrayed the DA." Harry opened his mouth as if to disagree, but Luna continued regardless. "She was wrong, of course, but I'm sure we've all done things that we thought were right at the time and later discovered that we were mistaken."

"A mistake? Is that what you call it?" Harry demanded. "Her mistake could have handed Voldemort victory."

"If she realises she was wrong, then yes it was a mistake, one she can learn from," Luna continued, unruffled by Harry's temper. "We all make mistakes, Harry. Don't discard an ally because of one in her past; that may be a mistake of your own."

Harry was surprised at Luna's vehement defence of Marietta. After all, Marietta was her former housemate and if she hadn't actively been involved in the stealing of Luna's belongings she had done little to prevent it either. Luna's stubborn defence, usually reserved for the defence of her father or the Quibbler, made Harry pause to consider what she said. "You may be right," he eventually conceded. "That sneak might come in useful. But how can we trust her?"

"Do you trust Professor Snape?" Luna asked. Harry opened his mouth, about to angrily say that he did not and could not trust Snape, but he quickly closed it again and merely nodded. "And so you should," Luna agreed. "He's proved it often enough. Let Marietta have the chance to prove her trustworthiness. Watch her for signs of betrayal if you want, but give her a chance. Now," Luna continued, suddenly going off on a different tack, "what would you like to drink?" After taking Harry's order, Luna walked over to the bar where Aberforth stood and, after a brief discussion with him, she purchased two bottles of Butterbeer which she and Harry proceeded to consume in silence.

Harry and Luna sat quietly dinking their drinks and watching others buy more drinks of their own from Aberforth while more people continued to arrive from the cellar. Most of the new arrivals were unknown to them, but eventually they saw people they recognised; first emerging from the cellar was Luna's father, then Lupin and finally somebody every bit as large as Hagrid, a woman that Harry had not seen for three years but who he knew both Hagrid and Dumbledore to have been in close contact with, Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy. Lupin had a brief conversation with Aberforth, who pointed towards Harry and Luna, then came over to join them accompanied by Mr Lovegood and Madame Maxime. Seeing this, Fred and George also moved over to Harry and Luna's table.

"Is that everybody?" Fred asked Lupin once they had all taken a seat, Madam Maxime sitting on a stool that was nearly a small table.

"Yes, everybody's here," Lupin replied quietly. "All forty-six of us arrived safely."

"So what now?" Harry demanded. "Do we all just sit here drinking as if it's a normal day?"

"For now, we wait," Lupin said even more quietly. "If he can, Dumbledore will come and tell us what he wants us to do."

"And if he can't?" George enquired before Harry could ask the question.

"If he can't," Lupin said seriously, "we'll know. Then it will be time to act."

"And what do we do about this lot?" Harry asked, indicating the others, all of whom had come to help fight Voldemort but most of which were treating the occasion as a reunion, happily drinking and sharing stories.

"Leave them alone, so long as they don't get out of hand," Lupin replied. He obviously saw Harry's questioning look as he continued sadly, "Let them have their fun, Harry. It may be the last time many of them have the chance."

Harry felt a shiver run down his spine at Lupin's words. He looked around the dank bar at those who had come once again, this time feeling not annoyance at their joviality but a sense of fear. How many of them, he wondered, will not be alive to see the outcome? Or worse, how many of them will be alive to see Voldemort victorious? As he looked at the smiling faces of his friends and allies, Harry knew that he was not going to like the answer.

That's the end of the first half of my version of the final battle. I must admit I'm not 100 happy with it, as I feel that more description might sometimes be needed, but if I put in everything I wanted it would end up absolutely huge. I'm also not sure I got everybody's characterisations quite right.

__

I'm not sure when the second half will be ready as I am quite inconsistent when it comes to writing. Hopefully it won't be too long. The second half will include a lot more confrontations between the forces of Voldemort and the defenders of Hogwarts. It will also include the deaths of some well-known characters and the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort amongst other things.

_Please review and tell me how well (or badly) the story has worked out so far._


	23. The Wounded and Their Carers

_Here are the next two "chapters". The first one shows how the battle has an impact upon even those who aren't directly involved in the fighting while the second returns to those who were never meant to be involved._

Professor Snape could now remember exactly why he loathed the hospital wing and endeavoured never to enter it if he could possibly avoid it; not only did entering the hospital wing remind him of the countless times that he received treatment as a result of the actions of James Potter or Sirius Black, but also whenever he required treatment Madam Pomfrey made sure he stayed for a long time. She was doing exactly the same this time, much to Snape's consternation.

"No Severus," Pomfrey said, repeating herself for the umpteenth time since Snape had been delivered to her in need of care. "You are not going to leave here just yet."

"Let me go Poppy," Snape replied exceptionally politely as he knew from past experience that his usual manner of speech was counter productive when used on Pomfrey. "I am well enough to leave now. If I leave I can be of use to the headmaster and at the same time a bed will be freed up for the patients who will soon be here." As if to add emphasis to his words, a badly wounded Dedalus Diggle staggered in supported by Lavender Brown. Four of Madam Pomfrey's new assistants quickly moved to help Lavender carry him to the nearest unoccupied bed. The four first years, acting as Pomfrey had told them when they arrived to help her, immediately began to treat their patient as best they could with the simple remedies they were permitted to use unsupervised. As soon as Lavender saw that Diggle was being cared for as well as was possible under the circumstances, she left the infirmary as quickly as she possibly could, running to return to the battle.

"I've told you several times Severus," Pomfrey responded very calmly. "You are not yet well enough to leave here." Snape bristled at this, but wisely kept quiet. "If the headmaster asks for you or if Death Eaters get near to here," Pomfrey continued, "I might consider letting you leave, but right now you are in no condition to wade in to the thick of the fighting as I'm sure you would love to do. Now, stop demanding that I let you leave every fifteen minutes and let me get back to my patients. And if you're that desperate to be of use, why not put your Potions training to use and ease my workload by helping heal these people. Right now Sybill's my only adult assistant and she's of only limited help to me." Pomfrey gestured first at the Divination teacher who was doing little more to help than the first years, then to the injured witches and wizards who were beginning to fill the hospital's beds much too quickly for anybody's liking before moving to help her assistants with the newly arrived Diggle.

Snape decided to do exactly as Pomfrey had suggested. If helping her meant that he was likely to get out of the hospital wing quicker he was more than willing to do so. It also gave him the chance to get out of bed and to actually be of use. Snape got up slightly gingerly, the effects of his treatment at the hands of Voldemort and the Death Eaters still apparent and showing why Madam Pomfrey was still reluctant to release him. He limped slightly as he walked over to the nearest bed. Much to his disgust, when he looked in to the bed he found the large figure of Dudley Dursley sleeping as if nothing was wrong with the world. He allowed Dudley to continue sleeping then moved on to the next patient, the sneer on his face showing quite clearly what he thought of the sleeping Muggle. The next bed along from Dudley contained another sleeping patient. This one, however, slept not as the result of laziness, which Snape was convinced was the reason Dudley was asleep, but because he had been given a Dreamless Sleep Potion. The patient was in fact one of the Death Eaters who had been captured due to Professor Sprout's actions. Madam Pomfrey had completely refused to restrain the Death Eaters, feeling that such precautions were completely unnecessary. Despite this, she had been persuaded that it would be too dangerous to simply let them recover from their wounds, so she gave each Death Eater the potion and planned to repeatedly dose them with it until the battle was resolved one way or the other.

Snape continued his patrol of the hospital, helping the first year students (especially the Slytherins, naturally) whenever he felt that they needed his assistance. He completely ignored each Death Eater aside from making sure that they were truly sleeping since he felt there was no point in treating the enemy. If it were left up to him, all the injured Death Eaters would have been left to die if they weren't helped on their way, but he knew there was no point voicing this belief as Madam Pomfrey would treat everybody, irrespective of what they had done, and that unless it truly became necessary to ignore them so that more care could be provided to their own wounded Dumbledore would completely support her. Snape also ignored Mr and Mrs Granger when he went past them, judging that they didn't urgently need his assistance and that they were making as good progress as could be expected. Mrs Granger had come through her ordeal remarkably well and she was now trying to help her husband remember everything that he had forgotten, though so far with only limited success.

It took Snape quite a while to realise that he was being followed around the hospital. When he did realise he cursed under his breath and chastised himself for not noticing earlier as he prided himself on being observant. He turned around and confronted his shadow. "What are you doing?" he demanded belligerently, making it as clear as he could that if he didn't like the response there would be consequences.

"Following you," replied the still slightly croaky voice of Petunia Dursley.

"I can see that," Snape responded in a manner that made clear his irritation at the fact that he was being followed. "What I want to know," he continued very sarcastically, "is why you were following me."

"Aside from that woman, you're the only one here who seems to know what you're doing," Petunia said. "I don't understand exactly what's going on, but people keep turning up here injured and you're doing something to help them. I can't just lie in bed all day, so I followed you trying to see if there's anything I can do to help." Petunia's face showed an earnest wish to do something, which in spite of himself Snape found he could relate to.

Snape was not about to admit this to Petunia though. "Muggles," he said, the customary sneer on his face, "can not do anything to help at the moment. You should go back to bed and wait for this to all be over. Then you can take your leave of Hogwarts." His sneer turned into an unpleasant grin and his tone of voice lightened slightly at the idea of Hogwarts once again being Muggle-free.

"No," Petunia said simply, her posture and tone making it clear that she was not going to back down. Snape's face briefly showed the shock he felt at this defiant response before it settled back to its normal lack of any emotion whatsoever. It had been quite a long time since anybody had responded to him with such a simple 'no'.

Snape decided to adopt the attitude he had found useful when dealing with his Potions classes. It had also often been useful in intimidating more than one fully qualified adult wizard. "No what Mrs Dursley?" Snape asked coldly, the sneer once more on his face.

"No I will not go back to bed like a good little Muggle and wait for everything to be resolved." Petunia made a good show of not being intimidated by Snape, though her unwillingness to look him in the eye suggested she wasn't quite as unaffected as she hoped to appear. Nevertheless, she continued calmly; "You may think that that I'm a stupid little Muggle who can't put two and two together, Mr Wizard, but it's obvious that something important is happening. Injured people keep coming here and I doubt they were hurt playing that Kid-witch game of yours. If you want me to go back to bed, tell me what's happening. Then I might consider going back to bed and leaving you alone. If you don't want to do that, tell me what I can do. Otherwise I'll just keep following you like a young Crup."

"My name isn't 'Mr Wizard', it is Professor Snape," Snape responded, ignoring the odd fact that a Muggle knew about a magical creature. He paused for a moment, considering how to deal with Petunia's ultimatum, then continued; "Since you really want to know, I will tell you what's happening. The Dark Lord and his followers are attacking the school. That is why wounded people keep visiting the hospital. Now, will you go back to bed and leave me alone?"

Snape was surprised to see more than a little understanding of what this news meant on Petunia's face. She was clearly scared of what Voldemort would do to her and her son if he won. The look of fear didn't last long, however; it was soon replaced with a look of determination. "In that case," Petunia said, "I have to do something to help."

Snape looked quizzically at her. "Why is that?" he asked in a kindly (for him) way.

"I can't just stand by and let Voldemort win," Petunia replied. Snape decided to let the mentioning of the name pass, knowing that Petunia was unlikely to know how much of a taboo it was. "He won't let Dudley and I live this time," Petunia continued, trying to explain the reason for her desire to help to the intimidating wizard, "and I've already lost enough family members due to him."

"Very well," Snape said resignedly, having decided that if he didn't let her do something Petunia would just continue following him, which would both annoy and distract him with potentially fatal results for the patients. "You can do a little to help me. Make sure you do exactly what I tell you, though, or I won't be responsible for the consequences." Snape concluded his ominous speech by scowling in Petunia's direction then swirling around and stalking over to the next patient, Petunia trailing in his wake.

Snape and Petunia continued making their rounds of the infirmary, Petunia assisting Snape in the same way that the first year students were helping Madam Pomfrey; she fetched the potions that Snape said were needed to help the patients and helped administer them. Frequently they were interrupted by new arrivals. Often the new patients were only slightly injured, taking advantage of a lull in the battle to get their cuts and scrapes healed; others, slightly more seriously wounded, were helped to the infirmary by their comrades. These patients normally stayed only long enough for their most serious injuries to be dealt with before they returned to the battle. The least frequent patients, fortunately, were those who in urgent need of attention, without which they would certainly die. Whenever such a critical patient arrived, Madam Pomfrey left whichever patient she was dealing with to her assistants in order to give her new patient a better chance of survival.

While Madam Pomfrey was dealing with one such critical patient, the four NEWT Defence students burst into the hospital carrying the two bitten students. "We need help with these two quickly," Lisa Turpin said as she and Sally-Anne Perks helped their injured classmate in to the nearest bed. Lilith Moon and Stephen Cornfoot were doing the same with the other wounded student when Snape and Petunia came over to help them as best they could. Snape briefly examined her still form, before shaking his head. "Put her down," he said quietly. "It's too late for us to do anything for her."

"Are you sure?" Stephen asked.

"Yes I'm sure," Snape responded, his usual biting sarcasm noticeably absent. "I've seen too many dead and dying people not to recognise another one." He turned to examine the other student. This time, he drew his wand and muttered a spell which caused the patient to cease his writhing before turning to Petunia and saying "I need you to get a potion for me. Go into Madam Pomfrey's office and bring back a yellow liquid." He indicated a door on the opposite side of the hospital so Petunia would know where to go.

"Will there be only the one potion?" Petunia asked.

"I've only made the one yellow potion for the hospital," Snape answered, indicating to the students how they could help him while he spoke. "The potion I want should have 'Universal Anti-venom' written on it. Get it and get back here as soon as possible."

Petunia set off to Madam Pomfrey's office at a run, weaving between the beds, patients and first year students as she crossed the room. She entered the office then a minute later she returned, moving more steadily so as not to take any chances with the beaker of yellow liquid that she carried. "Good," Snape said when she returned. He took the potion from her and poured a large amount of it down the throat of his patient. The patient, still held immobile, had a near instant reaction, he started choking and trying to vomit the potion back up. "Hold his mouth closed!" he ordered the students who instantly moved to obey. "He must swallow the potion if he's going to survive." It took nearly a minute for the injured student's reaction to abate, during which time Madam Pomfrey finished dealing with her other patient and came over to see the newest entrant to the hospital. She had a quick word with Snape about the treatment before nodding her head.

"You've done everything you can for him, Severus," Pomfrey said, her face tired. "I'm glad you've helped me care for all these patients. Now, though, I need you to do something else."

"What do you need?" Snape asked tiredly, the effort of dealing with the many patients who had entered the hospital as clear in his voice as it was on Pomfrey's face.

"The Universal Anti-venom is quickly being exhausted by all the snake bite cases we've had to deal with. I'm going to need more before the day is finished. I need some more Blood-Replenishing Potion too, and more Dreamless Sleep Potion. I'm reluctant to ask since I still don't believe you should really be leaving here, but can you make some more for me?" Pomfrey's body language and style of speech showed that she knew she was asking a lot of Snape, but that she absolutely had to ask.

"I will brew the potions, but it will take at least an hour." Snape's tone of voice as he replied showed that he was less than keen to be making potions while a battle raged, but that he would do what she asked. "I'll need help though. Turpin, come with me." Lisa appeared startled and less than pleased to be named by Snape as his assistant, but she made no move to disobey him. "And I suppose you will want to follow me too," he said sarcastically to Petunia. When she nodded, he continued. "Well come along then. The sooner we get this done the sooner we can get back here. Snape left the infirmary with Lisa Turpin and Petunia following him. Behind them, Madam Pomfrey told the remaining three seventh years how they could help then went back to caring or the injured


	24. Casualties and New Plans

When Ron, Hermione and Millicent arrived at the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room they were amazed by what they saw. Where there was usually only a stone floor, there was now a gaping hole down which a flight of stone steps could be seen. On the steps were several bodies, all of which where absolutely immobile. Some of the bodies were house-elves and a few belonged to Death Eaters. Most of them, however, were the immobile forms of Slytherin pupils. Other students were examining several of the prone figures, obviously trying to find evidence that there was still life in them. In many of the cases, the students sadly shook their heads after a brief examination, indicating that the body was dead. Several others were relieved when they found signs of life and immediately sent those that still lived to the infirmary where it was hoped Madam Pomfrey could care for them. Milling around amidst this chaos were numerous house-elves, some of whom were trying to repair some of the worse damage while others appeared to be standing guard. After standing still examining the scene for a few moments, Ron voiced the thoughts of both his companions. "What happened here?" he asked.

"The Death Eaters happened," Ursula Smith replied sadly, her face marked by tears. "They attacked us just as we were entering the common room. We tried to run so that they would be cut off when the stones closed behind us, but we found our way blocked by Draco Malfoy and his friends. They had been in the lead, but now they moved forwards only slowly, leaving those of us at the back, mostly Dumbledore supporters, to take the brunt of the Death Eaters attack, then after a few minutes they turned and began stunning the people immediately behind them. They got Ernie first, then Padma and the other non-Slytherins. After they were done with them, they turned on their nearest housemates, opening a path for the Death Eaters to use to enter the common room. Other students came up the stairs from the common room, drawn by the commotion, and they began to fight, mostly against Malfoy's friends though a few chose to join him. Zacharias and the others arrived about then, but they weren't able to do much to distract the Death Eaters. We'd probably have been overwhelmed if it weren't for the house-elves."

"What did the house-elves do?" Hermione asked.

"They saved the day is what they did," Zacharias said as he limped up to stand beside his sister. "They were amazing. They popped out of nowhere, completely surprising the Death Eaters, and then they began to use all sorts of weird magic. Some of the Death Eaters were thrown head-over-heels backwards and as soon as they got to their feet the same thing happened again. Other Death Eaters were blasted off their feet straight into the ceiling. Some of them were like bouncing balls, going from the ceiling to the floor then back up to the ceiling before returning to the floor again. That's how they came to be crumpled like that with several broken bones," he said pointing to the unconscious Death Eaters. "The Death Eaters fought back against the house-elves, killing some of them, but there were too many so the Death Eaters decided to retreat. I've never seen anything like it before. I had no idea house-elves had that kind of power," Zacharias concluded, a new respect for the diminutive creatures clear in his voice.

"House-elves have powers that we don't," Hermione said quietly while glancing at Ron in a way that was both smug and proud, smug that the house-elves had shown what they could do and proud of Ron since he had been the one to think of using them. At the same time, Millicent demanded to know "What happened to Malfoy?"

"The house-elves dealt with him and his allies too," Ursula responded. "They blew everybody who was fighting up the stairs. They were a lot gentler with them than they were with the Death Eaters, though. I think that was because they weren't sure who was fighting for whom. After Malfoy and his friends got to their feet, they ran away. After that, I really don't have a clue what happened to them."

"Did we do right, Miss?" Dobby asked Hermione as he came to her side accompanied by some of the other elves.

"You did splendidly, Dobby," Hermione replied, smiling happily at him. "You've certainly saved many lives."

"It was only our duty, Miss. We have to protect every student in the school miss." Dobby returned Hermione's smile, obviously pleased with her acknowledgement of the elves' role.

Millicent, however, was not so happy. "Why didn't you kill any of the Death Eaters?" she asked belligerently. "They'll have to be dealt with eventually. It would have been easier if you killed them while you had the chance."

"House-elves can not kill, Miss Millicent," Dobby replied, shocked at the idea. "It is one of our conditions of service. No house-elf can be ordered to kill, Miss, and not even the free elves such as Dobby would consider it."

Hermione briefly debated whether to make a comment on the elves' inability to kill if they needed to or to express her distaste at Millicent's question. In the end, her distaste won. "Bulstrode, how can you even think of that with so many of your housemates killed or injured?" she demanded.

Millicent shrugged her shoulders before responding. "I'm only thinking of the future, Granger. They'll need to be dealt with and it would be better if they were dead before they can hurt anybody else. And why should I care about my housemates?" she continued. "None of them would care about me. In any case, it's their own stupid fault they got hurt. If they'd hadn't been daft enough to openly support Dumbledore the Death Eaters wouldn't have known to kill them." Ursula was obviously incensed by Millicent's callous attitude; so much so that the only reason she didn't attack her was that Ron was physically restraining her. "Take that back, Bulstrode!" she ordered.

Millicent set her jaw stubbornly, apparently going to continue the argument with her younger and much smaller housemate. Seeing this, Hermione intervened. "I really think you should apologise to Ursula, Millicent," she said, using the bigger girl's first name for the first time to everybody's surprise, including her own. "Some of her friends are lying there dead while others are injured. In any case," Hermione continued, heading off the argument that Millicent seemed about to make, "we really can't afford to be at each others throats right now. Like it or not, you've chosen a side. I doubt Voldemort would be willing to take you now." Both Millicent and Ursula shivered at the dreaded name, with Millicent reacting the more violently of the two.

"All right, Granger," Millicent said after a moment's consideration, though the grinding of her teeth made it clear that she begrudged every word, for all that her tone of voice was conciliatory. "I apologise for any offence I may have caused. It was wrong of me to create friction at this time." Hermione noticed that Millicent had not retracted a single word that she said, though since Ursula was no longer trying to force her way past Ron she let it go.

"What now?" Ron asked once he stopped restraining Ursula.

"We need to rethink what we're going to do," Hermione replied. "First of all, we need to get the wounded to the hospital wing. Dobby, can the house-elves take care of that?"

"Of course, Miss Hermione. We would be happy to do that." The little elf hurried away to organise the transportation. A few moments later, the wounded were levitated and several elves began to escort them to Madam Pomfrey.

"Zacharias, you should go and see Madam Pomfrey too," Hermione said after watching the elves leave, gesturing at the Hufflepuff's injured leg.

"I'm not going," Zacharias responded stubbornly. "If Mad-Eye Moody can fight with one arm, one eye and a wooden leg I can do the same on this." Zacharias moved his leg around to demonstrate his point, though he winced more than once as he did so. "Besides, I want to get even with the Death Eater that did this to me."

"All right then," Hermione began, accepting that Zacharias would be unwilling to leave. "Zacharias, you revive Ernie and Padma. We also need to know who's still here, who's dead or injured and who left with Malfoy. Ron, you check the Gryffindors. Ursula and Millicent, you do the same for the Slytherin. Hannah will do Hufflepuff and Zacharias and Ernie can help her once he's recovered and I'll sort out which Ravenclaws are still here, with Padma's aid once she's up and about. The rest of you," she continued, turning to face the few NEWT students still standing, "stay here with the house-elves and stand guard."

The group spent the next quarter of an hour finding out exactly what had happened to the students. When they were done, they returned to the top of the stairs into the Hufflepuff common room to discuss what they had discovered. "So how bad is it?" Hermione asked.

The others looked at each other as if silently determining who should speak first before Ron answered. "None of the Gryffindors were killed, thankfully, though a few were injured – about six, I think. I'm afraid that five of them seem to have followed Malfoy, though."

"The same thing's pretty much true of Hufflepuff," Hannah interjected once Ron had finished speaking. "We had a few more injured, about a dozen, I think, though I'm glad to say we could only find two people who went with Malfoy. I'm afraid, however, three Hufflepuffs were killed."

Hermione turned to look at Padma who, still groggy as a result of being stunned, reported what had happened to the Ravenclaws. "Most of the Ravenclaws seem to have kept out of the fighting," she began, "so there were fewer Ravenclaw casualties – just the one dead and three wounded. Unfortunately, some of the brightest have chosen to follow Malfoy's lead. Several of the least brilliant Ravenclaws have too."

"Why?" Ernie asked, every bit as groggily as Padma.

"I can't say for certain," Padma replied after briefly considering the question. "The only one of them I knew at all well was Morag MacDougal. I'm fairly sure Morag chose to join up with Malfoy and You-Know-Who out of a misguided desire to learn. From what her closest friend, Herodotus Runcorn, told me, she became academically interested in the Dark Arts. She wanted to learn more about them, which drove her in to the company of some of the Slytherins. Herodotus also said that many of the others who left with Malfoy had been hanging around with her more than normal too, so I think it's probable that many of them were equally interested in the Dark Arts. And I would guess the less bright ones had a similar reason for leaving – they wanted to learn the Dark Arts so they would know more about something than most of their fellows."

"And the Slytherins?" Hermione asked turning to Millicent and Ursula.

The two Slytherins looked at each other for a long while before responding, each trying to persuade the other that it was they who should respond. In the end, it was Millicent who answered Hermione's question. "It's bad, Granger. About half the house is gone. I'm afraid the only definite numbers we have are for those who died – twenty-two in total. Other than them, I'm afraid it was so chaotic that we can't tell for certain who was injured and who left. Of course, this doesn't include any of the five captured You-Know-Who supporters. I'm afraid none of them are going to be much use to us, though," she continued, answering the question that was on everybody's lips, "since two of them are stupider than Crabbe and Goyle, one of them seems to have been hit with some kind of Memory Charm and the other two are half-blood witches that Malfoy doesn't seem to have trusted much. And no, before you ask, I don't know why they chose to go along with Malfoy. It could be out of some sort of house pride, or perhaps it's that they don't like Muggleborns Whatever the reason, they say they're on our side now because Malfoy left them behind, though I don't know if we can trust them. It's a very Slytherin thing to say."

"Then how do we know we can trust you?" Ron demanded. "Surely you're just as much a Slytherin as they are. And you were part of the Inquisitorial Squad two years ago, for Merlin's sake. Aren't you at least as much of a risk?"

"Weasley," Millicent replied condescendingly, "I've already been daft enough to help you fight Death Eaters. Why on earth would I want to change sides now? In any case, I've already alienated Malfoy too much to join up with his lot. And as for the Inquisitorial Squad, that's the best evidence of all that I'm on your side." The others looked baffled by her logic, so Millicent explained. "I joined the IS because there was more to be gained by helping Umbridge than by resisting, though of course if I'd known how things would turn out in the end I'd have stayed well clear of it. Then I wouldn't have got hexed when you lot overpowered us, or had to endure Granger's awful crying the torture of spending the next half year trying to get everyone, particularly the teachers, to forget it had ever happened. All that bloody grovelling," she concluded sourly.

"That doesn't sound particularly encouraging to me," Hannah said, glaring at Millicent. "Surely you'll just change sides the minute it becomes in your interest to do so?"

"Sod off, Abbott, before I make you," Millicent replied angrily, her heavy jaw jutting violently towards Hannah as she loomed threateningly above her. "You're still sore that I took points off you for holding hands with that Finch-Fletchley boy then physically forced the two of you apart." Hannah, though still glaring daggers at Millicent, chose to avoid a confrontation. "In any case, I've got my own reasons for not wanting You-Know-Who to win. You can trust me."

"Yes, about as far as Hagrid could throw you," Hannah muttered. Everyone else, most especially Millicent, chose to pretend she had said nothing.

"So what now?" Ernie asked after a short silence in which everyone considered what had happened and the tension between Hannah and Millicent was partially defused.

"Well," Hermione began, "we can't all stay here. There's not room and it won't be safe any way if we can't close off the stairs. Is there any chance we can?"

"I'm afraid it doesn't seem that way," Zacharias replied. "The entrance has been stuck open since the Death Eaters attacked. One of the spells must have done something. Nobody I've talked to has a clue how to fix it."

"In that case we'll have to do something different. The other common rooms should be safe, but I don't think it would be a good idea for everyone to go to their common rooms. In any case, I doubt that the Hufflepuffs would be welcome everywhere," Hermione looked specifically at Millicent and Ursula as she said this, neither of whom contradicted her. "I think the safest thing might be to keep everybody moving. That way the Death Eaters should have trouble getting them. I also think it might be best to put everybody in groups consisting of all the houses."

Nobody contradicted Hermione, though Padma did voice a question. "How will they avoid the Death Eaters?" she asked.

"I think I have an idea. We'll need to see if it's possible before we try it, though."

"What do you have in mind?" Ernie asked curiously.

"I don't want to say until I'm sure it will work. All I'll say right now is it involves the ghosts and Filch." The others stared at her disbelievingly. "I know it sounds odd, but I really think it will work. If I'm right, we can have everybody safely mobile in about half an hour, forty-five minutes at most. I'll need Ron, Padma," Hermione paused briefly to consider then continued reluctantly "and Hannah and Millicent. Ernie, Zacharias and Ursula, stay here and look after everybody. If we're not back in an hour, take everyone to the Room of Requirement. Professor Dumbledore will be there and I'm sure he'll have a plan." Everybody nodded in a slightly confused way, and then Ernie, Ursula and Zacharias headed down the stairs. The other four followed Hermione as she led them away from the common room to try and put her plan into action.

It took the five of them only ten minutes to reach the dungeon where the ghosts commemorated their Deathdays, pausing every so often to look at the Marauder's Map to check that there were no enemies nearby. Once there, Hermione told the others what she wanted them to do. "I need you to persuade the House Ghosts that they can and should help us."

"And how are the dead going to help?" Millicent asked sarcastically. "Are they going to kill our enemies for us?"

"Of course they're not," Hermione replied testily, "What I want you to persuade them to do is to act as scouts for us. There's not much anybody can do to harm a ghost, so they can move around safely making sure that when people move around the school they don't accidentally run in to Death Eaters. If we can persuade all the House Ghosts, the other ghosts should be willing to help us too. Ron, you find Nearly Headless Nick. He's reasonably fond of you, so it shouldn't be that hard to persuade him."

"He prefers you and Harry to me," Ron objected. "Why don't you ask him?"

"I'm going to deal with Filch. If you would prefer to ask him for help I'd be happy to talk to Nick." Ron blanched at the idea of trying to deal with the despised caretaker and quickly shook his head. "Hannah, I want you to persuade the Fat Friar," Hermione continued.

"He should be fairly easy to talk in to it," Hannah responded, a slight smile on her face. "The Friar is always willing to help anybody if he can. He even takes Peeves' side whenever getting rid of him comes up."

"All right then, that leaves you two," Hermione said turning to Padma and Millicent. "I would like you, Padma, to talk to the Grey Lady while Millicent has a word with the Bloody Baron."

"The Baron might be hard to talk in to this, Granger," Millicent said. "He's never been the most approachable of ghosts." The others agreed with her – none of them would have relished having to talk to the fearsome ghost.

"I'm not sure how easy the Grey Lady will be to persuade either," Padma said. "She's always been a bit aloof. Most Ravenclaws have actually had more conversations with the Friar or Nick than her. I'll do my best though."

"That's all I can ask of you," Hermione said, smiling at all of them, even Millicent. "If you can't persuade them, we'll have to forget my plan. I'm fairly sure they'll agree, though. Oh, and Millicent? Don't try to threaten the Baron."

"What sort of an idiot do you think I am, Granger?" Millicent sneered back at Hermione. "I know I can't do anything to him so of course I'm not going to threaten him. You just deal with that Squib and leave me to do my part." Hermione bristled slightly at Millicent's response, but chose to ignore it. Instead she turned to head towards Filch's office. Behind her, the others split up to try and find the ghosts of their respective houses.

About five minutes after leaving the ghosts' part of the dungeon, the lamp-like eyes of Mrs Norris spotted Hermione. It didn't take long for her owner to arrive on the scene. "Well, what have we here?" Filch said unpleasantly. "The Head Girl neglecting her responsibilities. You'll have to be reported to Professor Dumbledore when this is over." The caretaker smiled maliciously at the thought.

"I'm not neglecting my responsibilities, actually," Hermione responded calmly. "They're the reason I've been looking for you."

"Is that so? And what can this old caretaker do for the mighty Head Girl?" Filch seemed to be having fun confronting Hermione. It wasn't often he had the chance to talk with a Head Girl. In this case, his face made it clear that he liked it even more as he hoped that she would give him a reason to persuade one of the Professors to punish her.

"I'd like you to help keep the students safe from the Death Eaters," Hermione said, still keeping her cool despite Filch's attempt at provocation.

"And why would they need my help? The Death Eaters aren't going to get into the castle."

"I'm afraid you're wrong there, Mr Filch," Hermione replied respectfully. "Some of them are already inside."

Filch was stunned. His shock briefly showed on his face, but he quickly composed himself. "Why should I care, then? It's not my job to look after children. I'm only here to keep the school itself tidy and in good repair. Get rid of you lot and my job would be easy," he said nastily.

"And do you think you'll be safe?" Hermione said reasonably. "Voldemort," Filch reacted violently to the name, much more so than was normal, "and his Death Eaters aren't exactly fond of Squibs." Filch was both astonished and angry at Hermione's words. He knew his status was an open secret, but nobody had ever dared call him a Squib to his face. His anger was slightly mollified by Hermione's tone of voice, which was sympathetic, though it was still plain to see. Hermione continued before he could say anything, "In any case, if the pupils all die there will be no school and if there's no school you don't have a job. And it's possible they might respect you more if you help them, and if they respect you more they might be more willing to listen to what you say."

Hermione knew her last words were stretching things a bit, but she had shown Filch what was in it for him, as the slight smile on his face showed. "All right," he said, polite for the first time, "what do you want me to do?"

"Everyone knows you and Mrs Norris have a connection. I'd like you to lead a group of students around the school using her as a scout. The Death Eaters won't see her as a threat, so she can tell you how to avoid them."

"You want me to put my cat at risk for a load of children?" Filch said incredulously. "I won't do it!"

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked persuasively. "Mrs Norris should be perfectly safe and I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would appreciate it. He would probably reward you. Oh, and if you're lucky you might get the chance to use you whips on a Death Eater or two, or maybe even some of the students that have chosen to join Voldemort." Filch's eyes lit up at the thought of a reward and a huge smile came on his face as soon as the whips were mentioned. He was so distracted that he didn't even react at the mention of Voldemort's name.

"I'll do it," Filch said, the sadistic smile still on his face. "Where will I find this group of yours?

"Go to the Hufflepuff common room," Hermione told him. "I'm sure you know where it is. I'll meet you there in about ten minutes. Once you've got your group, try to stay out of trouble." Filch nodded then walked quickly back to his office, presumably for his whips, Hermione guessed. She turned and headed back to the dungeon.

When she got there, Hermione found the ghosts gone and her companions sitting at the table on which the house-elves put the rotten food that was the centrepiece of most Deathday parties. Thankfully, there was no such food there now. "Did you persuade them?" Hermione asked eagerly as soon as we saw them.

"The Friar agreed almost as soon as I suggested it to him," Hannah said smiling. "He then went off to talk to the other ghosts."

"Nick agreed pretty quickly too," Ron said. "From what he said, I think the ghosts have been trying to figure out what they could do to help so he was glad to hear of an idea that used their abilities."

"The Grey Lady just hovered there listening to me," Padma put in. "She didn't say a word but waited until I was completely finished then just nodded and floated away. If the other ghosts hadn't left, I'm not sure I would have known what happened."

"The Bloody Baron was difficult, though," Millicent said extremely quietly. She appeared quite shaken by something, though she was obviously unwilling to say anything about it. "He isn't fond of Muggleborns, so he thinks the Death Eaters might have the right idea. It took me a lot of arguing to persuade him that he'd only be helping to keep the students alive and so preserve the future of the wizarding world, though once I did he just floated through me on his way to talk to the other ghosts." Millicent shuddered when she mentioned the Baron going through her, something the others could readily understand.

"The four of them met up over here," Ron said once Millicent was done talking, "then they seemed to have a word with the other ghosts. As soon as they were done, every single ghost left. I'd guess they've all gone to the Hufflepuff common room."

"What, every single one?" Hermione said, surprised.

"Yes, every one, even Myrtle. She came over here to complain before she left," Hannah laughed.

"Peeves is the only one who didn't say he would help us," Padma interjected. "He said loudly that he wanted to have some fun with the Death Eaters. I'm not sure I want to know what he plans to do to them, but I hope it's nothing nice."

"Well, we'd better get back to the Hufflepuff common room then. Filch is going to meet us there and so it seems will the ghosts." The group retraced their steps to the common room, stopping for a brief while to avoid a group led by Rabastan Lestrange that also included several students. They were running away as fast as they could, a cackling Peeves pursuing them. Eventually they returned to the common room where they saw Filch, Mrs Norris and the ghosts waiting at the top of the stairs. After a brief word with them, Hermione and the others went downstairs where Ernie and the Smith siblings met them.

"It went all right then, did it?" Ernie asked.

"It went perfectly, Ernie." Hermione replied. "Now we need to split everyone up in to groups of about twelve, three members of each house per group if possible. Also, I want a group of everybody sixth year and above who got at least an A in OWL Defence Against the Dark Arts that wants to fight the Death Eaters. That group will go and join the DA, Aurors and teachers. I'm tired of just staying away from the fighting." The other DA members nodded their heads, completely agreeing with the sentiment. Ursula opened her mouth to speak but Hermione interrupted her. "No, Ursula, you are not going to fight. I want you to take charge of one of the groups."

"Why me?" Ursula asked, surprised at the idea.

"I want members from every house to take charge of one group. The other houses have prefects who can do that, but all the Slytherin prefects are gone. I know for a fact Snape considered you for prefect this year, just as I know he considered making Daphne Greengrass prefect instead of Pansy Parkinson. I want the two of you to be the Slytherin leaders."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? How will the other houses like being led by Slytherins?" Ron asked.

"Ron," Hermione said seriously, "we all need to stand together or we will die separately. That's what Dumbledore and the Sorting Hat have told us. That includes the Slytherins. This shows we have confidence in them, despite Malfoy. Will you do that, Ursula?"

"All right," Ursula replied, obviously unhappy but willing to do what was necessary. "So who decides who is in which group?"

"Ernie, will you deal with that?" Ernie nodded and set about making it happen. "I'll just talk with Dobby then we'll get everybody moving. Hopefully they'll all be safe." Hermione walked up the stairs calling for Dobby. The little elf soon appeared.

"What does Miss Hermione want with Dobby?" he asked.

"Dobby, the students are soon going to be moving around a lot. Can you arrange for each group of students to have an escort of a few house-elves?"

"Of course, Miss Hermione. Dobby will see to it right away." Dobby hurried off to do as Hermione asked. As he did so, Ron came up the stairs to tell her that Ernie was done. The two of them went back downstairs in time to see reluctant groups of a dozen pupils heading up the stairs. Each group was assigned either to Filch or to a ghost. Within twenty minutes, the Hufflepuff common room was completely clear of everybody except for the students who were going to fight against the Death Eaters and their allies. The group mostly included Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, though it did include Millicent and Blaise Zabini.

"Why are you still here, Bulstrode?" Hannah asked before they left the common room. "Don't you want to be safe?"

"I have no confidence Granger's plan will work," Millicent replied. "And as I said before, I have my reasons for wanting You-Know-Who to lose. You're stuck with me, Abbott." Millicent said the last part with relish and so smiled when she heard Hannah say sourly "Oh joy."

"Will the two of you shut it?" Ron demanded, acting the peacemaker for once. "We're about to go looking for a fight with some of the most dangerous witches and wizards in the world, so now is not the time for you two to pursue a personal grudge." Both Hannah and Millicent, looking suitably chastened, quickly muttered apologies.

"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said, smiling in her friend's direction. "Now shall we go?" Nobody disagreed, so the group headed out of the Hufflepuff common room to search for friends who needed help and enemies to fight. Behind them, a few house-elves stood guard, trying to prevent any more damage happening to the common room.

_Well, that's the end of this part of the story. I'm not entirely happy with this "chapter" as it somehow feels a little wrong to me. I had a version I was slightly happier with, but my computer crashed and much of it was lost. The next chapter will return to Neville and Ginny, then I think another Snape chapter followed by one featuring McGonagall, Moody and their group before returning once more to Dumbledore. Hopefully they won't take that long to write, though I can't promise anything._

_That's all for now._


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